Chapter 1: Jetstream lover
Rory crossed her arms defensively over her pajama clad chest, her lower lip trembling as she watched the love of her life shuffling around their apartment, gathering his things and shoving them in a large duffle bag. She blinked her eyes rapidly as tears blurred her vision when he turned around, facing her with those soft caring eyes and sad smile on his features.
"Mary…" he softly said, shaking his head when he heard her choke on a sob as soon as he spoke.
"Don't" She choked when he moved closer to her, causing him to stop "Don't. If you…just don't. I wont be able to take it if you touch me…I wont let you leave" She sobbed, shaking her head and walking backwards, away from him.
"So you want me to be standing 20 ft away from you for the next hour?" he asked gently
"Please don't" Rory choked, not knowing what she was pleading for as she backed herself into the wall while he moved closer to her, not stopping.
"Rory…" He urged softly when he had reached her, nudging her chin up to look at him "I'm sorry" he whispered, stroking her cheek. She shook her head and forcefully wrapped her arms around him, pulling him closer to her, resting her chin on his shoulder, staring at the suitcase behind him.
"Shh. Calm down sweetheart" Tristan whispered, his voice breaking slightly as he felt her shoulders shaking
"I can't! You're leaving for god knows how long. Why you?! They have plenty of other medics they can send out! Why you!" She cried hysterically, pulling back and violently shaking his shoulders
"I need you to calm down Mary. Just take some deep breaths. Come on…do it for me" He coaxed, a concerned look gracing his features
"Who's going to call me Mary huh? Who's going to make fun of me for practically every stupid quirky thing I do Tristan! Who's going to cook for me…I can't cook. I'll starve. You know I hate sleeping alone! Who's going to hold me at night huh? Who!" She shouted, sobbing her heart out
"Rory…please calm down…you're scaring me baby." Tristan pleaded, wiping his own tears away
"Please Tristan. I love you…I love you too much to be able to get through this" She pleaded, tears still running down her face
"I'll be back Mary. I promise" Tristan whispered, leading them to the couch and sitting them both down on it
"Don't make promises you can't keep" Rory snapped, choking on her words "they can't do this…tell them no Tristan…just tell them you can't" she added afterwards
Tristan sucked in a breath He knew this was going to be tough; never in a million years did he think it would be this hard. "I can't do that" he said softly "I will come back Rory. I promise…have I ever broken a promise?" he asked
Rory shook her head, hiccupping as she fought a fresh batch of tears "No" she whispered quietly
"It's for 6 months…its going to go by like that" he said, snapping his fingers for emphasis "Trust me. You trust me right?" he asked softly
"Yeah" She whispered "6 months is too long Tristan"
"Come on. You have work, school, your mom…you're not even going to have time to think about me" He coaxed
"Never" Rory whispered "I…I could never Tristan. You…you're my life. I don know what I'm going to do"
"You." he stated firmly "Are going to be great. I'll call when I can. And we'll write each other…come on. It can be like one of those old cheesy romantic movies" he joked with a watery smile
"Don't joke" Rory choked, forcing a smile for him "Aren't you going to miss me?" she asked desperately
"God Rory, its taking everything I have not to break my own leg so I don't have to go…but I know I have you to come back to…so I'll be that much more careful" he said softly
"That's brilliant. Break your arm though. Your left arm" she said seriously between sniffles.
"Rory…" Tristan said with a soft smile
"Mary…its Mary. I wont hear that name for months…it's Mary" She said strongly, a few tears escaping her eyes
"Okay. Mary" he clarified "You hated that nickname" he said softly
Rory shook her head "I hated you at the time" she laughed sadly "Tristan…" she started quietly, looking down at their hands which were interlaced "Please come back" She said desperately, tears falling from her eyes onto their hands. "I need you okay?"
Tristan nodded "I will come back" he stated "I promise. You're strong Mar…you'll get through this. And 6 months…that's nothing in the scheme of things right?"
Rory shook her head "Too long." She argued "Where's your cologne?" Rory asked suddenly
"What?" he asked confused "Why do you need that/"
Rory stood up "Where is it Tristan…where the fuck is that cologne or aftershave or whatever the fuck you put on at night!" She said frantically
Tristan stood up as well, "Calm down. It's in the bag…" he said softly while getting it out for her
She snatched it from him and ran into their bedroom, leaving him no choice but to follow. He furrowed his brows, shaking his head as he made his way into the room, confused when he saw her spraying everything with it.
"What are you doing" He asked, stopping her before she got to the bed
"It smells like you" She whispered
"Mary…" he pleaded quietly, not knowing what to say as he fought to stay strong while watching this strong independent woman come apart before him.
"Just let me…the pillow Tristan…I need it to smell like you. I need you here" She pleaded, pushing her way past him and spraying it all over his pillow
"Mary…Mary!" He said loudly, taking the bottle away from her "I'm here…I'll always be here for you. You're gonna go nuts if you keep this up okay?" he said softly when she turned around to face him
"I'm already nuts if you haven't noticed Tristan!" She shouted "The love of my life is going to fight in a war I don't even believe in! And I don't know if he's ever coming back; so forgive me if I'm crazier than my usual self" She sobbed, breaking down on their bed
"I'm going to have Logan stay with you for a while okay?" He said as he sat down on the bed, pulling her huddled body into his lap
Rory nodded against him "You'll take care of yourself okay Rory?" He asked
"I'm not the eon who's going to have grenades and bullets being thrown at me, so no. you take care of yourself" She whispered
Tristan chuckled "Fair enough. I love you Mary…this is the hardest thing I've ever had to do…but I love you. Don't ever forget that" he said more seriously
"You're talking like I might never see you again. Don't talk like that" she growled
"You will see me again…after all; like you said…who's going to call you Mary?" he asked with an indignant look on his face.
Rory smiled for him "I love you too." She whispered
"When do you want Logan to come over?" he asked with a half grin
Rory shrugged "Whenever he can" She said carelessly "How long do you have?"
Tristan looked at the clock "45 minutes" he responded
Rory nodded "Did you pack everything?" she asked, gently rubbing his back, relishing being in his arms, a feeling she wouldn't have for the next 6 months.
He nodded "Everything" he confirmed
"A picture of us?" she asked
"First thing I stuck in there." He smiled
"Of Evie?" She asked
He chuckled "Yeah. I've got a picture of her too." He said, loving how well she knew him and his family
"Will you still have your job when you come back Tris?" Rory asked quietly
"I probably won't be chief resident. But I'll still have a job waiting" he answered "don't worry okay? We'll figure that all out when the time comes." He assured her
Rory nodded "So how often do you think you'll be able to call me?" she asked, tightening her arms around him
"Once a week most likely. It depends on how the conditions are over there. But I'll call as much as I can okay?" he said optimistically knowing that even once a week was a stretch
"I can write you right? I mean…you'll get the letters" She asked
"Of course. Write away Rory. You know I would love to get letters from you. It'll keep me sane" he chuckled
Rory nodded "Okay then" She said, getting up and walking over to her nightstand
"What are you doing?" he asked
"Here" She whispered, pulling out a large stack of letters bound by a rubber band
"What are these?" He asked confused, taking the pile from her
"Ever since we've known…well I guess before that as well. I've been writing…well pretty much everything. Memories we've shared…thoughts you know, that kind of stuff. And when we realized you were leaving, I thought it would be cool to kind of write these letters for you…just so you have something to hold on to. There's about 30 of them so I guess whenever you have time. Like one or two a week would probably keep them going." She explained
Tristan felt a tear slip down his cheek. "Rory" He whispered, realizing that this may very well be the last moment they spend together. He set the stack of letters down and pulled her back down against him, hugging him tightly to her
"Hey. Military men don't cry" Rory choked, wiping his damp eyes
"You're incredible Mary." He said softly
"Remember one or two a week…and don't talk to me about them. Its weird and sort of embarrassing…I don't know. I just thought you might want to read them……you don't have to, in fact they might be boring…so maybe you should opt for a book instead" She said nervously, feeling a bit uneasy about the prospect of him practically reading her journal entries.
"Mary" he interrupted "I'd love to read them"
"Okay then." She said with a nod "15 minutes" she said sadly looking at the time
Tristan smiled softly "Longer than Romeo and Juliet had" he smirked
Rory laughed "You were such an idiot leaving us like that…I had to kiss Paris!" She exclaimed
"And what a sight it was…" Tristan mused
"Tris!" Rory groaned "Images of me kissing Paris does nothing for me"
"But it does things for me…" He teased
"You are unbelievable." She stated
"Hey. I'm going overseas for 6 months. That's 6 months without anything. And I'll be sharing a room with about 5 other people at least…that's not much alone time" he said with a smirk, knowing he was making her uncomfortable
"Shut up" she whined
"I'm sorry Mare" He said as he glanced at the clock
"5 more minutes" She mumbled into his shirt, not wanting to let him go
"That's exactly what we have." He said sadly, standing up, bringing her with him as she refused to dislodge herself from him
He sighed "at least bring your legs up so we don't look like we're doing a really bad version of the Viennese waltz." He joked as he carried her to the living room
"Hey. You said you would never bring that up again!" She said embarrassed
"I'm sorry that you are a terrible dancer. Despite you being a debutante" he smirked "You have to get down Mary" he said when she refused to stand on her own
"Fine" She huffed, handing him the letters she picked up from the bedroom
He stuffed the papers into his duffel bag and slung it over his shoulder "I'll call Logan, tell him to come over in about 3 hours?" he suggested, loosely resting his hands on her hips
Rory looked down, her lower lip trembling and nodded "Yeah" She whispered brokenly
"Everything's taken care of so you don't have to worry about Rent, or bills or anything alright?" he told her, ducking his head to get a better look at her as his voice cracked
"Least of my worries" She whispered, dropping her forehead onto his chest
"Okay…I love you Mary" He said softly
Rory nodded "I know" She whispered "I love you ET" she choked, still not looking at him
Tristan brought her chin up and leaned down, capturing her in a passionate kiss before she had time to say anything. He rested his forehead against hers when he finally pulled back, one hand behind her neck and one around her back, keeping her close to him.
"See you soon" He whispered with a forced smile
"I'm counting on it" she laughed sadly as he gave her one last kiss on her forehead and turned around, not being able to look back as he walked out the door. Rory waited until he had closed the door before running up to it and opening it, watching him slowly walk to the elevator. He turned around, a sad smile on his features as he stepped inside and winked at her before the doors shut.
A/N: Okay what do you think? I think I could do some interesting things with this, but it's really your call so review, tell me what you think/want to happen!