Ready for Anything?

Chapter 20

Rory's POV

Finn and I made our way back to Luke's, and we walked inside. I looked around, pleasantly surprised to see that we successfully made it in between the breakfast and lunch crowds, so we didn't have to worry about being the center of too much gossip right off the bat.

He guided me to a table with his hand in the small of my back, and we sat in a fairly secluded area near the counter.

"I figured we could talk easier if we weren't right in the middle of the diner" he said with a shrug, and I agreed appreciatively.

"I know it seems insane, but that's really the best way to describe the town, really. Insane. They jump on new information and want to know all the details immediately. If I didn't love all these crazy people I would have already suggested that the whole town be a part of a psychiatric case study" I teased with a smile.

He chuckled with his eyes shining. Lane came over to take our order, and I introduced them. "Oh I already know - I met him last night" she said with a sly smile.

"You did?" I asked in confusion, turning to Finn, who was nodding.

"The best friend, yes. Nice to put a name with the title, Lane, and nice to officially meet you" he said, extending his hand to her for a handshake.

"You too, Finn. So I guess you spent the night?" She asked and Finn nearly choked in surprise.

"She's fine, I don't lump her in the same category as the gossips" I assured him with a smile.

He laughed and relaxed a bit. "I stayed in the apartment upstairs, actually, so yeah" he said.

"Good. You two have a lot to catch up on. Can I bring you some drinks?" She asked.

I laughed at the expression on Finn's face when she said what she did. "She also already knows. Best friend privileges. I'll take a coffee, and my usual whenever he's ready to order" I told her.

He shook his head with a laugh, this visit quickly becoming full of surprises around every corner. "Just a water for me, please, and whatever she's eating, just bring me the same" he said.

"Brave man" she said, and walked off with almost a skip in her step.

He turned to me once again with an amused expression. "Should I prepare for the worst? What the hell did I just order?" He asked with a laugh.

I shrugged. "You'll probably be just fine" I teased.

"Probably" he mused with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. "That's not very encouraging."

Our banter was interrupted by the ringing of his phone. He looked at the screen and hit the ignore button.

"Colin - apparently they're all worried about me. They'd been calling all week, but my phone was dead. I let them know last night that I was okay, but now they all want to know what's going on."

"What are you going to tell them?" I whispered.

"I'm not going to tell them anything until we talk and figure out what we want to say, love. I have far too much respect for you to just let them all in the middle of our business. I - I'm sorry, my phone again" he told me, holding his phone up to show Colin calling him again. "Perhaps I should take this outside for a moment so he'll leave us in peace."

"Sure, I'll just be right here" I agreed.

* * *

Finn's POV

I stepped outside the diner and hit the talk button on my phone, bracing myself for my best mate's frantic phone call.

"Colin, Mate. What can I do for you?" I asked him.

"It's about damn time you answered your phone, Finn. What's going on with you?"

"I've been...dealing with some stuff. I needed some time alone" I answered cryptically.

"Cut the crap, Finn. I know you better than that."

"Look, I can't really go into it all right now. I'm in the middle of something, but I'll call you tonight and fill you in on everything, alright?"

"You're sure you're okay, man? We've all been worried about you" Colin asked.

"I'm fine now, Mate. It's been a rough couple of weeks, but things are looking up. I'll be in touch later tonight. I need to run now."

"Alright, bye, Finn" Colin said before the line went dead.

I walked back into the diner and sat down as our food was delivered to our table.

"Everything okay?" Rory asked me.

"Yeah, everything is good, love. He was just worried about me" I assured her.

"What did you tell him?"

"I just let him know that I was fine and would call him later today. I think you and I need to have a talk before I decide how much to tell my friends."

"Thank you, Finn. I...just...thank you for not spilling everything to them all yet" she said quietly.

I reached across the table and tentatively touched her hand for a moment.

"Hey, we're in this together, love. It's not about you or me right now - it's about our little one and deciding how we're going to work this out together" I said soothingly.

"Well, again, thank you" she said as a blush traveled up her face.

I pulled my hand back and continued.

"So, I guess we should decide how we want to handle this. I assume...I mean, I hope that we're going to raise our child together somehow?" I asked.

"Of course! I mean, that's what I want. I don't have any desire to keep this little one from his or her father, but it's up to you, really" she said quickly.

"Let me be very clear, Rory. I know my actions the last few weeks have been less than reassuring, but I am in this completely - I will be a father to our child."

"Good" she replied with a small smile. "So I guess we'll just tell them that we're having a baby and we're going to figure out what raising our child together looks like for us?"

"That's exactly what we'll tell them, although I do think we should try to keep Logan from getting word of this just for a bit. Obviously, he knows you're pregnant, but I need to have a personal conversation with him to let him know what happened between us and that I'm the father. I owe him that much. It's not going to be an easy conversation, but I have to do it" I admitted.

"Sure, whatever you need."