Spin

Twenty-Two

[RORY]

October came and went like a cold front in Los Angeles, quietly disheveling those in its wake and leaving without a trace. I'd held on tightly to the high of my LA Times publication, heads-down in hopes to land another before the madness of the holidays.

Things had been going good – great, even – until a rumored collab became reality, sending the entire world into a complete tailspin.

Knowing quite well I was prone to getting pulled into the chaos, I kept telling myself that November would be a good month. I focused on work, I got ahead of Christmas shopping, and I counted down the days 'til Finn and I's trip. We'd been planning an Italian getaway for months, taking advantage of the end of White Noise's European tour to spend some actual time together.

I'd spent the first half of the month holding it together pretty well but inevitably fell victim to all of the noise. Rather than meeting the band in Madrid for their last show, I spent a small fortune moving my flight back so I could get in a few days early and surprise Finn.

I bid farewell to LA and 15 hours later, I was checking into his hotel in Ibiza – thanks to Dylan.

I was barely functioning as I dragged my feet, slugging my luggage down the ridiculously long hallway to Finn's room. Out of breath and devoid of any emotion, I slid my key card into the slot, praying for a decent coffee machine. I would need an espresso shot – or three – to stay awake to surprise Finn when he got back in.

As I stepped into the room, I immediately knew something was off. Though it was pitch black and I couldn't see anything, I froze – hearing something.

I let the door shut behind me, allowing my eyes to adjust to the darkness and low and behold, soft snores were coming from a lump in the bed. My smile was immediate, the thought of Finn tucking in alone before 10pm in one of the biggest party cities in the world too much to handle.

As quietly as possible, I shuffled over towards the end of the bed, kicking my shoes off before climbing on top of the comforter. Though I was in the midst of thinking through how to gently wake and surprise him, the movement had unfortunately stirred sleeping beauty.

Even in the dark, I could see him blink at me once, twice, and jolt upright, gasping for breath realizing he wasn't alone.

"Jesus, fuck–"

"It's me! Finn, it's me! It's Rory, it's me."

"Rory?" he croaked out, dazed, confused and clearly still half asleep. I couldn't help but laugh. "What're you...?"

"Surprise."

After a few more prolonged seconds of simply blinking at me, presumably trying to decide if he was actually awake or not, he finally came to. His posture eased, a breathless laugh escaping his lips.

"Don't ever do that again."

"I don't know. That was pretty entertaining."

He leaned closer, wrapping me in a bear hug before easing me down onto the bed and laying on top of me. I grunted, his body weight somehow doubling as he nuzzled into my neck, unintelligible mumbles lost in the comforter he was tangled with.

After realizing I was unresponsive, he popped his head up – hair askew with a big, goofy grin.

"What the fuck are you doing here?"

My heart was full as I reached my hand up, running my fingers through the curls in a pointless attempt to tame it.

"I thought I'd be cute and make up for the festival I missed last year."