Disclaimer: I do not own anything that comes from "Gilmore Girls" or Luther Vandross

Thanks to Curley-Q, Kate, KariandTK, Sleeping to Dream About You, chezzybabe, LoVe23, lexie9890, kylielink, and Jeremy Shane for reviewing!

Scene: Paris has just chewed Rory out for setting her up with Tristan when he only wanted to be friends.

Happens All the Time… But Just Not to Me

Rory watched, dumbfounded, as Paris stormed off. She set the two up on a date that had apparently gone well, Paris expressed an interest in going on a second date and Tristan shot her down. That boy, she silently fumed as she walked up to where Tristan sat on a desk. He faced her quickly.

"You told her?" Rory accused.

"I didn't know it was a secret!" Tristan claimed.

"Why would you tell her? What is wrong with you?" She huffed in aggravation at the boy's carelessness. A girl did not appreciate hearing that her dream date had been set up. She had thought a guy with his amount of experience would understand something that basic.

"Rory, relax. We tried, we didn't work out. It's no big deal!" Tristan attempted to explain his actions only to be cut off again by Rory. He felt a building sensation in his stomach, one that screamed, This is it! This is it!

"It's a huge deal to Paris! And you didn't try, one date is not trying!" Rory felt hurt on her

friend's behalf but couldn't identify where the small and petty sense of joy came from. She ruthlessly shoved it aside to deal with later. Right now was about Paris.

"Rory-" he began only to be cut off again.

"You said you'd try!"

Tristan became fed up with her accusations. "Hey, I'm sorry Paris is upset, okay? But is it better that I keep dating her even though I like someone else?" He held his breath as he waited for her smart mind to make the connection. He saw a flash of recognition in her eyes but it was quickly smothered.

"Oh." Rory was smart but not when it came to matters of the heart. She had believed that Tristan was referring to her, but… he had never acted like he wanted to date her. Then there was the kiss… but they had both agreed it was a mistake. So who could he be referring to?

"Yeah." Tristan felt a small balloon of hope rise in him as he saw Rory quickly analyze his statement. She just might realize how much he liked her and all thanks to Paris…

"I didn't realize. So… you're still not over Summer, huh?" The balloon burst and was submerged in incredulous disbelief. Was this girl really that dense? He'd been making calf's eyes at her the entire conversation, hoping this would be the conversation that would cause her realize how he felt and then… nothing.

"Yeah… I'm not over Summer yet." He shook his head and left to talk with his friends. They normally caught his undercurrents, even if they were crude. Rory stared after him, uncertain as to how she offended him. Maybe her mother would know…

Later, at the Inn…

It had been a rather boring day for Lorelei until Michel decided (unwillingly) to give her a pick-me-up. She laughed as she watched Michel attempt to detach an enthralled woman from his arm. The woman had been flirting with him for the past fifteen minutes and he hadn't been paying attention. He'd been answering her rather personal questions with his usual way of insults as he flipped through the mail. The guest had taken the responses as him playing hard to get. Lorelei was tempted to head to the kitchen and retrieve some snacks to enjoy the show better but she didn't want to miss anything.

"What's going on?" Rory whispered as she sat beside Lorelei on the couch. She dropped her book bag at her feet and watched Michel's struggles.

"The woman is hot for Michel and his accent. She's been trying to get him to leave his 'station' to come up to her room with her." Lorelei whispered without removing her eyes from the scene.

"Where's the popcorn? You can't fully enjoy this without popcorn," Rory whispered back.

"I was going to go ask Suki for something but I don't want to miss this." A gesture of her hand encompassed the disgusted Michel and the determined lady. Rory nodded her agreement and settled back to watch. After another five minutes trying to persuade him, the woman left, although not without leaving a heavily perfumed card in Michel's jacket pocket. He immediately threw it away and turned to face his boss and her daughter.

"Were you there the entire time?" His accent grew even more pronounced as he shrieked in outrage. The two grinned and nodded. He sniffed. "Well, you have always been my least favorite people. This simply confirms the wisdom in my choice." He stalked off angrily.

Lorelei giggled and turned to her daughter. "Well, that lightened up my mood. What's up with you, kiddo?" she asked as Rory's smile slipped a little. "Did the Chilton Freaks do something outrageous again?"

"Not really. I told you about the date I had set up for Paris with Tristan, right?" Lorelei nodded. "Okay, well today Paris comes up to me and says that she had a good time and thought that there might have been another date in the future. When Tristan walks in, she goes over to tell him how much fun she had and to see if they can set up a definite time to do it again."

"Makes sense so far, where does the problem come in?" Lorelei asked.

"Just listen. Well, Tristan apparently says they should definitely hang out together… as friends." Rory said the last two words as if they were the worst words to ever be spoken by man.

"Oh boy. DUMB boy," Lorelei corrected as she settled more comfortably on the inn's sofa. She shook her head disparagingly. "The things men do."

"Yeah, and that's not the worst part. He apparently told her that I had arranged the whole thing."

"REALLY dumb boy!"

"Extremely. So Paris ripped into me and I went to talk to Tristan. He said that he didn't think it was fair to go out with her when he liked someone else."

"He regained smart points with that, but only a few. He could have broken it to her more gently."

"Agreed. Now, here is my problem-"

"Beyond the whole Paris no longer liking you thing?"

"Yes. When he said he liked someone else… I thought he might have been referring to me." Rory admitted. "And earlier in the conversation, when he had said it just didn't work between him and Paris, I felt a little happy that he was still free."

Lorelei studied her daughter's shamed face. "This sounds serious."

Rory sighed. "I think it is, but it's seriously big trouble." She leaned back and looked at her mother. "What do you think?" Lorelei contemplated the situation in her head and then analyzed the best way to present it to her sensitive daughter. What she was about to say was not going to be easy for her to accept.

"Rory, I think-"

Michel glared at the pair as he interrupted the moment. "You irritated poochie asks that you return to the desk before he terrorizes one of the guests." He again stalked off to the reception desk, his nose cleaving the air in front of him. Lorelei cast an apologetic look at her daughter before heading to deal with the customer. Fifteen minutes later the irate gentleman had left and so had Rory. Lorelei found a note tacked to the back of the sofa. Reading her daughter's neat handwriting, she smiled softly before heading to the kitchen. This was an occasion that called for coffee.

Tristan's House…

Tristan lay on his bed wearing his casual clothes: lounge pants and an oversized hooded sweatshirt. His hands were clasped under his head and he stared without sight at the ceiling. He glanced at the digital clock that rested beside his bed: 7:02. It was still early in the evening yet but he had nothing to do. He had finished his homework, eaten dinner, read a book for school and had flipped through the channels on TV. Nothing worth watching was on. He was bored.

Normally about now he would call a girl to keep him company, but he didn't want that anymore. He had made a tentative friendship with Rory and associating with the girls of his past gave him a sick feeling of un-cleanliness. He scoffed at himself when he realized he wanted to make himself worthy of her. Worthy of a girl who didn't know he was interested in him, he sneered mentally. Frustrated with the thought he sat up and headed into the computer room. He would browse the internet, then. That should keep him occupied. Just as he was logging onto his e-mail account he heard the maid turn on some music in the front room. She sang along with the words, oblivious to the sullen boy sitting at his computer. The music was achingly sweet and mellow and floated into his room to whisper tantalizingly around his ears.

"So many times I've seen So many people's dreams,

Lost and washed away out to the sea, yeah.

I said "No, not I, pain would surely pass me by.

Happening to them, but not to me, yeah."

Tristan laughed harshly and leaned back in his chair. How true! He'd always been breaking the hearts in school. Now Rory had broken his with her indifference and callousness. It probably wasn't deliberate, but that only made the pain worse. It had no viable outlet. Resigned to listening to the rest of the song, Tristan stayed in his chair.

"Hearts gets broken all the time.

Never used to worry about things like this.

But the trouble is now I'm worrying,

See the problem is the heart is mine.

Love would be all I'd need… How naïve could I be?

Trusting other people with my care, yeah.

Never thought I'd have to be one of love's casualties.

Up until now my belief was that love was fair."

Not entirely true. He hadn't truly believed in love. He hadn't had an experience with it beyond fairy tales. Yet Tristan had felt something more solid in his love for Rory. Had it been the love of fairy tales and the song? Had he acted a naïve fool?

"Hearts gets broken all the time.

Never used to worry about things like this,

But the trouble is now I'm worrying,

See the problem is the heart is mine.

This time my heart's breaking, this time my love's failing.

I'm trying hard not to be bitter now.

I never dreamed that the broken heart would be mine.

Hearts gets broken all the time,

Never used to worry about things like this.

But the trouble is now I'm worrying,

See the problem is the heart is mine.

This time it's mine, this one is mine, the heart is mine…"

He smiled sadly. Tristan did hold the deed for one broken heart and it wasn't a pleasant sensation. He shook off the effects of the song and stood up. He was slightly disgusted with himself for allowing a crooner to affect him this way. He was Tristan Dugray, he could overcome this. Can you, his conscience asked? Tristan ignored the whisper and opened his bedroom door. He stared in surprise at Rory, whose hand was raised in preparation to knock. Their eyes devoured each other before each retreated behind indifferent shells.

"What are you doing here? Couldn't wait until tomorrow to ream me out again?" Tristan leered, inwardly sickened by his attitude. The best defense is a good offense, he thought in an attempt to explain his lewdness. Resolve hardened her gaze and infused her voice with steel.

"May I come in? We need to talk." Without waiting for agreement she shoved him aside. Stunned he followed her into his bedroom and watched her take in the surroundings. Deciding to see his room from Rory's eyes, Tristan looked at his bedroom again.

A large four poster bed stood proudly at the north wall. The dark green covers were slightly mussed from his earlier musings on it. A tall bureau stood next to his entertainment center on the south wall. The walls were a pleasing cream that blended well with the deep greens. The wood added a touch of brown that accentuated the masculinity of the room.

"Well? Is it what you imagined?" Tristan sneered. Rory faced him squarely.

"No, I thought I'd find a bunch of Playboy posters on the wall. I'm glad that your room shows more class than your locker." The cutting look she directed his way reminded him of the Siamese twin picture he'd put in his locker as a lark. He didn't want to explain that to her now, when he so desperately wanted her. He was a very confused boy.

"What do you want to talk about?" He crossed his arms, propped up a foot on the wall and leaned back. His stance shouted 'delinquent youth' but the tension radiating off him in waves belied his nervousness.

"I want to talk about what happened earlier between us after Paris left angry." Rory began pacing as she formulated her thoughts. "You said you like someone else, but when I mentioned Summer you seemed incredulous. I don't believe it was due to my amazing deductive skills but rather that someone normally considered smart would reach such an idiotic conclusion. Then that started bugging me. Who could you have been referring to? I racked my brain but it kept coming back to how I'd been happy you didn't like Paris as more than a friend after all."

"You were happy about that?" Tristan asked hopefully. She glared at him for interrupting without slowing down.

"Yes and that was something else that bugged me. I mean, I should have been hurt for Paris' sake, and I was a little, but the happiness had no explanation. I talked to my mom about what happened and how I felt-"

"You told your mom about me?" Tristan uncrossed his arms and stood up straight, more hope flooding him.

"Stop interrupting and yes, I did. Now, she didn't have a chance to tell me what she thought (Michel called her away) but simply having a sounding board allowed me to realize why I was feeling what I was feeling."

"Which was?"

"Stop interrupting if you want to hear my conclusion!" Rory huffed, standing still for a moment with her hands on her hips. She looked so cute to Tristan, her eyes shining with her determination to relay her conclusions he once again subsided.

"Thank you… where was I? Oh, yes, a sounding board. Well, realizing how and why I felt that way, I headed over to Dean's to talk with him." Tristan grumbled at the mention of Dean but she continued anyway. "I told him how I felt and he wasn't happy-" that made Tristan happy-" but I was firm in my decision. Now, I have to tell you how I feel but I find I'm worrying that I read you wrong and that I'm going to embarrass myself now, so I've decided to let you make the first move."

Tristan and she stared uncertainly at each other for a while before she snapped, "Are you going to make a move or what?"

Tristan stepped forward uneasily. "I would if I knew how you felt."

"Oh, for goodness sake! I just spent the better part of five minutes telling you!"

"No, you didn't. You just told me how you came to find out how you felt, not if it was revulsion, love, lust or like." Tristan calmly overrode Rory's irritation. She threw her hands in the air and made a strangled sound in her throat. She strode towards him and stopped directly in front of him. When his blue eyes met hers she stated quite clearly, "I like you and would like to go out with you."

"Why Mary," Tristan grinned slowly as his arms wrapped firmly around her waist, "you only had to say so." He once more interrupted her, but this method was far better than words and more effective at keeping her attention. They kissed with greed for a long time until the grandfather clock tolled the time: 7:30. He tenderly drew back from their passionate embrace. His hand encased hers and the simple contact made her smile.

"Rory, will you go out with me?" She looked at him, confused.

"I thought I asked you out."

An aggrieved expression flashed across his face before he corrected her. "My reputation could never stand up to that. No, you told me you wanted to go out with me. Because I have such great and amazing executive skills, I acted on the information and asked you to go out with me."

Rory rolled her eyes before smiling into his earnest eyes. "Yes, Tristan, I will go out with you."

"Seal that promise," he asked huskily, leaning down for another kiss. He had the thought later that evening, after having reluctantly seen her home, that there was something else that happened to everyone else but not to him until that night: he'd found true love. Rolling his eyes at his foolishness, Tristan climbed into his warm car but couldn't resist looking at Rory's window for one last glimpse of her until tomorrow.

Author's Note: I hope you like this story as much as the others. I'm sorry Rory seemed a little bit like Paris in the confession scene, but I couldn't write it any other way and have it seem okay. Let me know what you think!