Summary: Rory and Tristan meet once again at a different stage of life. They've both changed and matured and may be ready to start something together, finally.
AN: I hope you enjoy the story and please realize that I'm trying to make this as much like real life as possible. Also, I do change the characters a bit to fit my own imagination but I try and keep them the same as much as I can. I know we all love Rory and Tristan for who they really are!
Disclaimer: Obviously, I own nothing but this story. Not GG or the characters or even the actors.
I grabbed the ringing phone from the hook and propped it between her shoulder and ear while grabbing some manila folders from a file cabinet.
"Rory Gilmore." My voice sounded very businesslike.
"Hey. What's an oximeter?"
I rolled her eyes at mom's question, "An instrument that measures the oxygen in blood. Why?"
"I was flipping through the dictionary and wanted to know if you knew what it was. Do you know what zounds are?"
"Sounds of surprise right?"
"Mild exclamations. Jeez, you are so smart."
"Mom, I'm at work. Can this wait till later?"
"Fine." Lorelai sighed, pretending to be exasperated. "I know you back checkers have a lot of work. Call me later okay? Say hi to Todd for me."
"I will. Bye."
I hung up and dropped the folders on my cubicle desk. I'd been a back checker for a year and a half. I had written about three articles for our paper and sent things into magazines all the time but still haven't received my desired promotion.
Todd is my boyfriend. We've been together for about four months and he works at the paper too. He's the sports editor. It's kind of ironic since I know nothing about sports and really don't care to learn. But we're happy.
The phone rang again and I sighed, exasperated and grabbed it, beginning a conversation with someone about their article. My second and third lines began ringing at almost the same time and I quickly hung up with the first person before turning on my voicemail for the night. It was quarter to five and I figured my boss wouldn't mind if I left fifteen minutes early for some much needed coffee and R&R.
My navy pea coat pulled tightly around me, my black leather messenger bag slung over my shoulder, I headed down the street of New York into a small snowstorm. I sighed and thought of my favorite coffee place, almost all the way across town. Instead I wandered the streets until I came across a coffee house. I ordered an extra large coffee with an extra shot to go and headed back out into the growing storm.
I wasn't in the mood to go home quite yet and start my boring weekend so I walked a bit further until I saw an intriguing looking building. It looked like any other New York building but a particular door in the middle was painted bright green.
I approached the building slowly. There was a sign in the window reading 'Hole in the Wall'. It looked small and dingy from the outside but I could see books through the snow covered window and pushed open the door. A small bell sounded and a woman glanced up from the counter. She smiled.
"Hey, brave of you to venture out in this storm."
I grinned, "Well, I'd do anything for some good books."
A nod from the woman, "I'm Lucy. And yeah, help yourself. The books are just kind of everywhere. Not organized by genre or the alphabet or anything. They're anywhere and everywhere. New and used. Ask if you need help. And if you head up those stairs over there, there's a loft where you can enjoy a good book."
This woman was amazing. This place was amazing. I was already in love. I drank my coffee and wandered the aisles. My stack of books grew until finally I decided to head home before the storm got worse. I juggled the stack and dropped it on the counter.
Lucy looked up with a smile, "An avid reader, huh?"
"Oh yeah. Definitely."
"Me too. I love this place. I spend almost all of my time here."
"Do you own the place?"
She nodded, "I live upstairs. I constantly find myself down here reading or finding new books. It's really very handy. I've read a ton. It's like my own little library and there's always something new coming in."
She was punching in numbers on an old computer, trying to get my total. She frowned in concentration so I decided to stop talking and let her work. I found myself studying here and analyzing her, the reporter side of me, I suppose. She was a little bit shorter than me with dark red hair about shoulder length. It was cut bluntly and made her green eyes stand out. She had a gorgeous shaped face. Almost heart shaped. She seemed a bit eccentric and in that, charming.
I jumped as the bell above the door rang, signaling another customer's entrance.
Lucy glanced up and then her face broke into a giant smile, "Hey! I wasn't expecting you! What are you doing here?"
I turned my head over my shoulder to see who Lucy was happy to see and froze. Standing stone still at the door, staring at me, jaw hanging wide open, was none other than Tristan DuGrey.
Of course, I realized as I studied him further, doing some staring of my own, he had indeed grown up quite a bit. He seemed a little taller, if that was even possible. And more muscular and manly. His hair was a little shorter but still messy and a darker shade of blonde than it was in high school. He had a day or two of stubble on his chin and he looked absolutely gorgeous.
I could only imagine what he was thinking of me and how I'd changed, especially since I was such a mess. But that of course, I would never know. Because now, he was stepping forward and extending a hand to me. Automatically, my hand shot out and shook his offered hand. He smiled. Oh, that smile. So gorgeous. So amazing. I think I'm melting.
"Hey. Wow, Rory, you look great."
"Thanks." I think I may have blushed a little. I don't think I've blushed in years. "So do you. Really different."
"Good different I hope?"
I nodded unable to say much more.
Lucy was still smiling but she looked confused, "What's going on? You know each other?"
Tristan shook his head, "Oh my god, I'm sorry. I assume you two have met since Luce always introduces herself to whoever comes in but I didn't even think. Rory, this is my older sister, Lucy. Luce, Rory went to Chilton with me. She hated me."
He sounded so matter of fact but not at all upset. He even sounded like he was teasing me a little. I giggled, "I did not! You just weren't my favorite person to be around. You were very immature. I'll assume you've changed."
"Why don't we grab a cup of coffee and you can find out?"
His move was so smooth. It fit right into conversation and didn't sound like a cheesy pick up line. It didn't sound like a pick up line at all. So unlike Tristan that I found myself nodding.
Just let me finish up here."I told him.
"Take your time," He said, "I'm going to grab another book to take along with me. Luce, I'm going to stick this one back on the shelf somewhere."
I glanced at the book he had in his hand. Oliver Twist. "I'll take it." I volunteered and he handed it over with a smile before disappearing between the shelves.
Lucy took it and added it to my stack, "So you know Tris, huh? One of his many admirers?"
"Definitely not. I didn't like him much."
"So you never liked him? Never wanted to kiss him?" Lucy winked, "Come on. I know my little brother was a stud in high school."
I smiled and blushed again, "Actually we did kiss once. But I'd just broken up with my boyfriend so I started crying and ran away."
Lucy's jaw dropped, "You're kidding!"
"Nope." I then proceeded to wallow. I mean, I felt horrible but I didn't mean it personally towards Tristan."
"Good to hear." Tristan commented as he reappeared.
"Whatcha taking?" Lucy asked as she typed in my last book.
"The Stand."
"Steven King," Lucy nodded approvingly, "Good choice. Rory, you said you name is? Your total is one hundred forty nine dollars and fifteen cents."
I cringed, "Ugh. Sure. Hold on."
I dug around in my bag and came up with only a twenty and a couple singles. I handed Lucy my credit card. I wasn't even sure how much was on the account. Hopefully enough. I was very tense waiting for the credit card to be returned to me. A back checker doesn't make much and although I usually waitress on the side, I've been taking less hours lately.
Lucy handed me the credit card and a bag. With a sigh of relief I tucked the credit card away and accepted the heavy bag of books.
"Thanks a lot, Lucy. I'll definitely be back again."
"Anytime, Rory. And I look forward to seeing you. It was nice meeting you."
"You too." I smiled.
"Bye sis."
"Bye." Lucy called to Tristan, "You two be careful out there! It's snowing pretty hard!"
"We will!" Tristan called back as he held the door open for me.
We headed down the street in a semi comfortable silence until he steered me towards a quaint looking coffee shop, "This okay?"
"If there's coffee, it's better than okay." I told him.
He laughed. God, if I thought his smile was good, his laugh is even better! He has such an amazing laugh!
He held the door open again, such a gentleman and let me choose a table before pulling out my chair for me.
"Thank you." I waited until he sat down across from me before continuing. "You really have changed, Tristan. I can tell already."
Another brilliant smile, "Thank you. It means a lot coming from you especially."
I grinned.
"You've changed too, you know?"
I stopped taking my coat off halfway through. "What are you talking about? I've barely changed."
He shook his head, "No. You've definitely changed."
"How so?" I asked.
He seemed like he was debating telling me or not when a waitress came over and asked what we would like. Tristan looked at me expectantly waiting for me to order. I glanced at the one page menu in front of me and managed to decide quickly.
"Could I get some coffee, a blueberry muffin and one of those yummy looking chocolate chip cookies over there?" I pointed towards a glass case beside the counter.
"Decaf or regular?"
"Regular please."
"And for you?"
Tristan hadn't even looked at his menu but he knew what he wanted. He's obviously been here before. "Regular coffee with a fourth decaf and a bit of skim milk please. And a slice of white chocolate cheesecake please."
"Sure." The waitress wandered off and Tristan looked back to me.
His eyes met mine directly and I tried hard not to blink and break the spell I seemed to have fallen under. His eyes were so amazing. A bright blue, crystal clear. His eyelashes were long. I was extremely jealous of them.
"So?" I asked again, not willing to drop the subject.
He chucked. I'd always loved his laugh. Low and deep. But fun. Especially when he was just being himself and laughing out loud without holding back. I think I'd only heard that one once. And it wasn't because of me. He was with a friend of his and I was standing nearby.
"Well," He began, "You definitely look different. I mean you hair is gorgeous and you've definitely matured."
I touched my new hairstyle. It was a dark brown and about shoulder length. I had bangs off to one side and I'd worn it curly today. It was probably windblown but still the same. Then I subconsciously glanced down at my body which I guess has matured. I'm a bit curvier. I look more like a woman than a little girl but I'm still petite.
"And you're happy. I can tell. You didn't always seem happy at Chilton. I know you didn't like it there but you seem happy now. I like happy you."
I grinned, "Thanks. I like happy me too."
"Here you go." The waitress deposited our food and coffee on the table and I smiled up at her.
"Thank you. You're an angel." I slid my coffee cup towards me and pulled it up to my lips.
The waitress smiled and left a check on the table. Tristan's hand shot out. So did mine but I was a second too late.
"My treat." He insisted.
I shook my head and set my cup back down to argue with him fairly, "No way. I'm paying."
"Not a chance, Ror. Really."
I sighed." Fine, fine."
"Thank you."
"No, thank you." I replied.
"So, tell me what you've been up to." Tristan invited.
As a reflex, my head tilted immediately to one side and I saw Tristan smile at the action. I righted myself and pondered the invitation.
"Well, I work for the New York Standard. I'm a back checker." I began, "And, I have a cute little apartment over near work and I got a dog. She's an adorable little Shih Tzu. White with brown ears and one brown paw. I named her Mocha. And, um, I don't know. That's about it."
I chose purposely not to tell him about Todd. I don't know why but I had a sneaking suspicion that if Tristan knew I had a boyfriend, he wouldn't stick around too much longer. Besides, there wasn't really much to tell.
"Well, whatever it is, it's working. You seem happy."
"You do too. What's doing it for you?"
"Oh I don't know. Actually, I'm a teacher." I raised my eyebrows in surprise and he laughed, "I know, right? Me? A teacher? But I love it. I teach United States History, American Government and Business Law at a high school. The kids are really great. I can't wait to get there every morning."
"Really? How many of each class do you teach? And for like what grades? Is it that organized like Chilton was or no?"
"Well," Tristan began slowly, "It's a public school, so that's different from Chilton, definitely. But first and second hour I teach U.S. history to sophomores. Third, fourth, and sixth I have seniors and juniors for American Government and fifth and seventh hour I have sophomores, juniors, and seniors for business law."
"I always wanted to take business law." I admitted wistfully, taking another bite of my muffin.
"Actually, every semester, we do a mock trial. Some of the parents come and watch. You could come if you wanted. We're doing it in about two weeks."
"Wow." I blinked in surprise at the invitation, "Thank you. I might do that if I can get out of work."
"Tuesday, December 14th. We start at 9 in the morning. We actually got permission this year to borrow a real court room at the courthouse across town. They'll have some signs posted. It should be easy to find."
"Wow," I said again, "I may just have to stop by."
"Do that." Tristan smiled and I glanced down. There were only crumbs left on both of our plates and drops of coffee in our cups. The snowstorm outside was dieing down leaving only a slushy mix of snow and debris on the sidewalks and street.
"Well," I decided, "I should probably get going."
"Okay. You okay getting home? It's starting to get dark."
I nodded, glancing outside again. "I'll be fine, Tristan. Thank you. It was really good seeing you."
"You too, Rory."
"And you didn't call me Mary once." I added with a playful smile.
Tristan laughed, "Hmm. Maybe I'll have to restart that nickname. I'm sure you've changed but I like having a special nickname for you."
I giggled, possibly a nervous giggle, I wasn't quite sure. "Well, bye, Tristan."
I headed for the door, waving a hand over my shoulder as Tristan headed towards the counter to pay.
"Bye Mary!" I heard him call after me and I left with a smile on my face.
I was frozen by the time I'd gotten home, having chosen to walk and take the subway rather than find a cab and spend a lot of money. I kicked off my damp clothes and changed into my plaid flannel pajama pants and a long sleeved tee-shirt. It was December 2nd and I was already sick of snow. Of course, I would never tell Lorelai that, she would freak. But I really was sick of snow. At least New York City snow. Instead of being white and sparkly, it was brown and slushy, covering the sidewalks and filling the gutters.
I laid all my new books out on the table and chose to start with Oliver Twist. I couldn't help but think of Jess for a minute, but only a moment. My mind soon settled back on the amazing evening I'd spent with Tristan as I turned the pages of one of my favorite stories.
And later that night, when my phone rang, and the caller ID read 'Mascovitz, Todd', for some reason, unknown to me, I ignored the call and just kept reading, not wanting to talk or return to real life. I wanted to be stuck in my mind with Tristan or in the book with Oliver and Dodger. Not in real life with Todd or Lorelai. Not now. Not today.
AN: So, please let me know what you think. There's nothing like a good review to boost my confidence and encourage me to write another chapter! Constructive criticism is welcome but don't be mean about it, please! Thanks a lot! I'd really appreciate it!
