#frory

Title: The Five Times Rory Tried One Of Finn's Chat-up Lines, Including The One Time He Decided Not To Author: hisnameisjoanne/turnthedarkness (LJ) Word Count: 1,900 Rating: PG Pairings: Finn/Rory, Rory/Various Warnings: None except that this was done a little bit fast.

Summary: When Rory needs help with finding a girl, who better to ask than his new best friend Finn Hudson, initiator of that kiss? But Finn's chat-up lines aren't the best. Maybe it will be better with something a little more simple...

Written as a little birthday present for the awesome Coty.

 It starts, of all places, when they’re playing Call of Duty.

“Rory, quick, follow me! I know a great hiding place!”

And after a little fiddling with his control, Rory follows Finn across the grass, down into the abandoned mine or whatever it is.

“Quick, use your sniper!”

“Which button is it again?”

“That one,” Finn gestures on his control, and Rory presses it on his own.

Suddenly, the screen goes red.

“Winning kill, Rory! Nice one!”

Finn reaches over, offers Rory a high-five.

“Thanks for the help.”

“No problem, dude.”

There’s a pause as the next game loads and they pick their map.

“Would you – I mean, can you help me with something else?”

“Sure.”

“You’re obviously great with the girls, what with the whole superkiss thing. Could you help me? All the girls here are really pretty, and I’d love to get to know one of them...”

And that’s how the plan starts.

And Finn calls upon his best collection of chat-up lines to help out.

1.       “Do you have any credit on your phone?”

Mercedes and Tina are stood together by the lockers when Finn and Rory see them.

“Just go up to them, say hi, maybe tap them on the shoulder or something to get them to look at you. Then just go for it.”

Finn pats Rory on the shoulder encouragingly, then pushes him forward.

Each footstep seems to echo down the corridor.

“Hey,” Rory gasps through his teeth, his stomach turning.

“Hey there, Rory! You liking America?”

“Yes, it’s great. I was just wondering – do you have any credit on your phone?”

Immediately, Tina starts to rummage in the front pocket of her bag, pulling out her phone and offering it to him.

“Sure, here you go. Who did you need to call?”

“Oh, er -,” Rory hesitates, then looks over at Finn, who nods encouragingly. “It’s not for me, it’s for you. To phone your boyfriend and tell him you won’t be coming home tonight.”

There’s a pause.

And then Mercedes and Tina burst out laughing.

“Rory, I don’t live with Mike! And even then, I wouldn’t cheat on him! You’re cute and everything, but I’m sorry. Nice try, though.”

Tina looks over her shoulder and winks at Finn.

2.       “Your eyes are as blue as the water in my toilet.”

“Isn’t that a little bit disgusting?”

“Puck told it to me, said it was gold. Though he said he changes ‘toilet’ to ‘pool’ sometimes. He cleans pools a lot, so I guess it works then. But you don’t have a pool, so that would be lying if you said that to someone, and you gotta be honest with a girl.”

Rory is unconvinced.

But there’s a group of girls shoaled together by a locker, and Finn’s chosen his next target.

“That’s Lauren. She might be a bit scary and stuff, but Puck dated her for a while last year and they were kind-of a power couple. She’ll think you’re sweet. Just try it.”

Again, a pat on the back, Again, a push forward.

But Lauren seems scary. Really scary. Finn had said she was a wrestler as well, and she’d probably floor him in two seconds if she didn’t like the line.

Maybe there’s a better choice.

And so, instead, Rory goes up to the girl who turns the corner, soft curls falling onto her shoulders. At least, from the back, she looks very pretty.

“Your eyes are as blue as the water in my toilet.”

She turns around.

The first thing Rory notices about her is that her eyes aren’t blue.

“You’re Rory, Brittany’s exchange student?”

Rory can only nod.

“Well, I don’t know what it’s like in Ireland, but here, it’s not a cool thing to do, to tell people their eyes are like toilets. Which is a little bit disgusting, by the way. I don’t like knowing I’m covered in toilet bugs.”

“Sorry - ,”

“I don’t know if this is a practical joke or not, but next time, try one of the students.”

She leaves him hanging.

“Dude, what did you just do?”

“What?”

“You were meant to talk to Lauren.”

“She looked scary.”

“Sure, but at least that would less embarrassing than saying it to Miss Pillsbury?”

“Wait – that’s the guidance counsellor that Mr Schue’s dating, right?”

“Uh, yeah.”

Rory puts his head in his hand.

3.       “I think you might want to stop, drop and roll.”

“Dude, I know this one will be okay. Quinn always thought that voice on the Lucky Charms advert was cute. And you’re kinda the same. So just go for it. Be cool, be casual. Just lean against the wall, and when she leaves the bathroom, just – bounce.”

“Okay, third time lucky, right?”

“Third time lucky,” Rory nods, before Finn ducks out of the way.

Soon enough, the bathroom door opens, and Quinn walks out, bag slung low over her shoulder and dress swinging round her knees. She looks gorgeous.

“Hey Quinn - ,”

“Hey, Rory, what are you do - ,”

“Stop, drop and roll, because I think you’re so on fire you’re hot.”

That makes no sense. That wasn’t the line.

“Excuse me?”

“You’re so hot that you’re on fire. You might want to stop, drop and roll to put it out.”

Quinn stares at him; he’s either joking, serious, or going along with someone stupid – she suspects Puck, but will wait to confront him about it.

“I’ve just smoked a cigarette. Is that what you mean?”

“No, I -,”

“Good. I dyed my hair a very bright colour a while ago. Is that what you mean?”

“I had no idea - ,”

“Again, fine. Rory, you’re cute. But I don’t have time for guys right now. Especially those who need a little consideration before you actually work out what they’re saying. Now, you can leave me alone. Thanks.”

Rory guesses he’s always destined to be the cute guy. And adorable-cute, not hot-cute. He sighs as another girl stares at him. He’s still leaning against the wall by the door to the girls’ bathroom.

4.       “I don’t have a library card, but...”

Rory’s alone in the changing rooms when he decides to have another go. He wonders if it’s Finn hovering by him each time that’s somehow putting the girls off, and instead of going for Santana, like Finn had suggested, he’s chosen the girl with the pretty dark curls who, for some reason, has just walked out of the boy’s showers.

He doesn’t know much about America yet. Rory he suspects this is perfectly normal; girls in the locker rooms with their boyfriends, celebrating after a game or something.

If there’s one thing he has learnt, it’s that girls seem to like football players a lot. And that actual football is called soccer. Which makes no sense. Because American Football is more like handball, because you hold the ball in your hands a lot. And you don’t kick it as much, or something.

The girl is at her boyfriend’s locker now, a towel around her shoulders.

Rory goes up behind her.

“I don’t have a library card, but do you mind if I check you out?”

“Wait – was that to me?”

The girl has a very deep voice. He used to know a girl with a voice a bit like that – her name was Lucy and her liked her a lot, but only as a friend.

“Yeah. You’re very pretty.”

“Wow, thanks Rory, but I’m taken, if you hadn’t guessed.”

And wait – that’s not a girl.

That’s Blaine Anderson. Who’s dating Kurt, the person who walked in on him and Finn playing Call of Duty and told them to keep the noise down, because Call of Duty and shouting was not the best background when you’re trying to spend quality time with your boyfriend.

“Sorry, I – I - ,” Rory falters.

“I’m totally cool if you want to experiment or something. I’ll just have to ask Kurt to make sure he’s okay with it, of course.”

“No, I - ,”

“What’s wrong?”

“I just – mistook you, that’s all.”

“No problem! It’s okay. The curls tend to phase people a little, and when I get out of the shower, there’s obviously that time between when it’s wet and curly and I can gel it again. It’s no problem. But do you mind leaving? I need to change.”

Rory takes one look at Blaine, who's smiling sympathetically, then runs.

5.       “Thank you”

They’re back where they started.

Finn decided that the only way to cheer Rory up was, as always, Call of Duty.

And Finn’s letting him win. Maybe. Just once, anyway. Then they’re even.

“I still can’t believe you actually went for my brother’s boyfriend, though!”

“Please, Finn, I’m embarrassed enough as it is! Come on, get him!”

“Sorry, dude. It’s just like one of those things that happens in a film or something. Nice shot!”

“Thanks.”

It’s obvious Rory doesn’t want to say anything more on the matter, so they return to the game, shout profanities at the screen until Carole comes up and tells them to keep the noise down before offering them both a drink. In the break between games they pause, take a sip, share a high-five or what Rory’s come to learn is called a bro-fist, which is basically punching another person’s fist and is very painful, whether you get it right or wrong. And depending on how far you get it wrong, the more it hurts.

“Hey, Finn?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you. For all the help with the girls. Even though it didn’t go that well.”

“No problem,” Finn tells him, and just as the game is about to start again, Rory leans up and quickly kisses Finn on the cheek. Then he goes red.

“Sorry – it’s just something my family do – we’re all pretty close and it’s just something we tend to do when we’re grateful or - ”

“Hey, dude, stop apologising. If you wanted to kiss me or something, at least do it properly.”

Rory can’t believe what he’s hearing. Nor what he’s doing; leaning up and in slowly, meeting Finn’s lips which taste of orange and kissing there. And Finn’s eyes are closed and he’s kissing back, his arms folding around Rory’s shoulders, and it’s a little strange and a little new – he’s kissed girls before, including his friend Lucy, but this is different and unknown and hey, this is quite nice because it feels sturdy and safe, a respite amongst the world which keeps spinning and changing around him. And for Finn, well, kissing’s nice. And he’s not complaining as they breathe together, and their heartbeats fall in time and he didn’t intend for it to become so romantic but it’s not bad. It’s not at all bad.

“That was, wow – that felt – nice,” Rory exhales as they break apart.

“It was a bit weird, dude.”

But there’s something more. Something that Finn’s not saying.

“Would you do it again?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I would. It was a good kind of weird.”

“Do you want - ”

Rory’s question is answered before it ends as Finn slides his fingers through Rory’s hair, pulls him closer, kisses him again, and this time it’s a little more heated, with a bit more force behind it as they smile between touches and hold close.

Did you just see that? More canon that brittana.