She's No You

Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girls or the song "She's No You".

Summary: A SongFic told from Tristan's POV as he watches Rory dancing with Dean and then makes up his mind to tell her something. The song is "She's No You" by Jesse McCartney.

Setting: This is set during the scene in the episode "Rory's Dance" in which Tristan watches her dancing with Dean then goes off to kiss Cissy. But what if things had gone differently that night?

Note: This is a partner fic to my other SongFic, "Beautiful Soul" and Lady Ilyre's SongFic "Just So You Know". Also, I changed a few lines of the song to match the fic.

-&-

They got a lotta girls
Who know they got it going on
But nothing's ever a comparison to you
Now can't you see that you're the only one I really want
And everything I need
Is everything you do?

He stands leaning against the wall and watches despondently as she gazes into the Bag Boy's eyes and he dances with her in that way that means they're in love. Tristan can't help imagining himself in that floppy-haired boy's place, his hands on Rory's swaying hips, his eyes locked onto hers. Will that boy tell her he loves her, the way that Tristan has been wanting to ever since he first called her Mary? Will she tell him that she does too?

Cissy, a preppy, cheerleader-type of girl who has everything but brains comes up behind him, oblivious to the fact that his attention is focused on someone else, someone he considers infinitely better than her. "You wanna dance?" she asks him, applying some lipstick to her perfect lips then flipping her blow-dried, curled blond hair behind her back in a flirtatious way.

Tristan spares Cissy a single glance. She's one of a thousand, one of those girls that know they're popular and pretty and most boys wish they were their girlfriends. She knows she's got it going on. But she can't even compare with Rory, beautiful Rory.

"No," he answers her in a dismissive kind of way, turning back to gaze once more at the dancing Rory. Cissy looks put-out by his negative response to what she considers her perfect flirting abilities but doesn't give up.

"You wanna go get some punch?" she asks, sure, this time, that he'll say yes. Because she made sure to curl a lock of her artificially-curled hair around a finger and put on a pout. That works every time, and therefore it will work with Tristan.

"No," he answers in a preoccupied voice, his eyes still locked on Rory, who looks so happy, so peaceful, so in love…He doesn't want Cissy. He doesn't want anyone, apart from her. She's the only one he ever has and ever will really want, but she doesn't know. She doesn't see it.

Any girl walk by, don't matter
'Cause you're looking so much better
Don't ever need to get caught up in jealousy
She could be a supermodel
Every magazine the cover
She'll never ever mean a thing to me

Cissy is surprised that he's refused a second time. She's practically a supermodel, and knows that when she's old enough she will be. She'll be on every magazine cover, looking wonderful, and all the boys will want to date her. So how can Tristan be refusing her now?

But she doesn't – never will – mean anything to him. Rory not only looks better on the outside, less superficial, but he knows that she's much better on the inside as well. She's better than he is, but that doesn't stop him from wanting her. If he could have her, she would never have to be jealous, because he'll never stop wanting her.

"OK..." Cissy sounds unsure, which is something that only happens when one of the teachers ask her a question. "Do you wanna…" And then she knows. She knows what she has to say to make him say yes to her. "Do you wanna go make-out?" She says it in a seductive voice, making sure to briefly let her hair brush against the back of his neck. It will work. It always does.

"No."

She's no you…hell no
You could give me more than I can ever want
She's no you…oh no!
I'm not satisfied with the one I got
Cause you're all the girl that I ever dreamed
She's only a picture on a magazine
She's no you
She's no you

Cissy is shocked. He said no to making-out! And with her, too. For the first time that night she notices where his gaze is directed and gasps. He's watching that Gilmore girl dancing with that tall, ugly boy. Is he…

Cissy flips her hair behind her back and puts her hands on her hips, which she does when she's thinking. Most boys find it irritatingly attractive, but Tristan doesn't even notice. She thinks. She comes up with an answer. "Tristan, if you don't want to do anything with me, why did you ask me to this dance?" She makes her voice sound sweet and curious, adding a little hint of suspicion to it as well.

Irritated, he turns to her, breaking the constant gaze that has been following Rory's movements for the past fifteen minutes. "Look, Cissy, I asked you because you're my girlfriend. But I don't-"

She can see what must be coming and won't be disgraced by being dumped. Oh no, Cissy Thompson has never been dumped. She dumps boys but they don't dump her. It's like an unwritten rule. "Fine!" she cries out, pointing an accusative finger at Tristan. "I've wanted to do this for a while but just didn't want to hurt your feelings. Now it seems as though I don't have a choice. I. Dump. You."

Satisfied, she can almost hear the imaginary gasps of surprise and pity for Tristan echoing around the room. It's too bad she has to dump him; he's a pretty good kisser. But training someone else isn't very hard. Cissy turns her back on Tristan to show that it's final.

Tristan shrugs; it doesn't matter to him. All that matters is Rory, even though she doesn't feel the same way about him. He only notices out of the corner of his eye that most of the boys in the room are quickly flocking around Cissy, seeking her attention and wanting to be her next boyfriend. He can't relate to them anymore. They're in a different world, it seems.

They got a lot of girls who dance in all the videos
But I prefer the way you do, the way you move
You're more than beautiful
And I just wanna let you know
That all I'll ever need is what I'd get with you

Tristan continues to watch Rory, oblivious to the fact that Cissy has just walked off with another boy, Jacob, and is getting ready to dance with him. If he did notice, he wouldn't care. She's just one of a million, but Rory is special.

He doubts that even the Bag Boy, who's still dancing with Rory, shares his views. Yes, maybe that stupid boy thinks he's in love, but most likely he's not. Love is what Tristan is feeling. What the Bag Boy is feeling is probably mere infatuation, and he doesn't deserve Rory.

'Neither do I,' Tristan thinks to himself sadly. But if he could have her, then he would at least make sure she was happy, safe, and comfortable. If he could have her then he would be content forever. But he can't. He can't have her.

Acting on impulse, Tristan walks slowly but purposefully toward Rory and her companion as they break off their slow, agonizing dance and go to sit down at one of the tables. He's standing next to her, and he doesn't know if his hands, which seem to have a mind of their own, will behave. "Hey, Rory," he greets her a little nervously, trying to make sure that his suddenly weak legs don't give in under him. The suspicious glare of her boyfriend, the Bag Boy, makes him gulp. He doesn't want a fight.

"Rory, who's he?" the Bag Boy asks her, obviously suspicious and not afraid to show it. Tristan almost smirks; he reflects that since the Bag Boy is tall, he probably thinks that can win him any fight. But Tristan doesn't want a fight. He just wants to tell her something.

"That's Tristan," she tells him icily, her eyes darting towards him and taking in his posture. She doesn't seem to notice that he's not here to embarrass her or to tease her. He just needs to tell her…

But the tone of voice she uses tells him everything, and a part of him cries out that there's no use in trying to tell her. But another part persists. 'Yes, tell her. Tell her what you've been longing to tell her for so long, let it flow out of you. It would be such a relief…'

Any girl walk by, don't matter
Every time you're looking better
I think you're perfect,
There ain't nothing I would change
She can be a supermodel
Every magazine the cover
She'll never ever take my heart away

Before he can make the final decision of tell her or not, a girl he faintly remembers as Natasha comes up next to him. "Tristan," she begins in a flirtatious voice, hanging onto his elbow. "Do you wanna come…you know…with me?" She winks at him.

He shakes Natasha away. As soon as she touches him he knows her faults. But with Rory…she has none. She's perfect, and even if he could, he wouldn't change anything about her. Natasha could be a supermodel, her face on the cover of every major magazine, and he still would have shaken her off. Every girl walking by is nothing, because there's Rory.

He makes his decision while Rory and Dean look on in disgust. "Natasha, go away," he commands her as icily as he can, letting her know that he doesn't want her in the least. She thinks this is a new way of flirting, maybe, as she just winks at him and gets closer, hanging onto his arm.

"Oh, come on. Just one dance. Then we can…you know…" Tristan is disgusted by the way that she seems to think that she's wonderful and he'll fall to his knees for her. Well, maybe every other guy in Chilton, every other guy at this party, will. But he won't. Because there's Rory.

"I said go away, Natasha. I don't want to do anything with you. Go drape your pathetic form on any other guy in this room." His frustration has made him snappish and as soon as he berates her so he feels a little ashamed. But she's such a fraud, so superficial, that really he shouldn't feel bad.

Natasha, as well as Rory and Dean, look shocked. And then Natasha seems to regain her senses and marches away, indignant, to go to the bathroom. Either she's there to cry or to apply more make-up, but Tristan doesn't spare it another thought. He turns to Rory again.

No one's ever gonna get to me…oh
The way you do now baby can't you see?
That you are the one…the only one
Who's ever made me feel this way
Nothing's ever coming even close…no
No one's ever been comparable
To you

"Go away, Tristan," she tells him in a warning voice. Dean, the Bag Boy, watches his every move suspiciously; wary that Tristan will try something with the girl who's just pronounced herself his girlfriend. Tristan sees it all but still; he knows he has to try.

He looks at her as earnestly as he can when her eyes look onto his and he catches them. Here is his chance. What if…There are so many what-ifs that it's no use even thinking them. Inwardly, he takes a deep breath, getting ready.

"Rory…I just wanna let you know…"

He pauses and glances at Dean, who looks as though he's about to get up and punch him. Rory looks slightly curious but mostly frustrated that he's there, interrupting her dreamy evening with Dean, the boy she thinks she loves. Does she? Perhaps. But it doesn't matter. He's going to say it anyway. And now, before Dean does punch him.

"Rory, I just wanna let you know…that all I'll ever need is what I'd get with you."

There. He's done it.

I don't want…nothing… I don't got
I don't need…nothing…but you
I can't get…more than…you could give me
So please start what you could do

Dean gets up, ready to pummel him for talking so openly to his girlfriend. But Rory gets him to sit back down with a single look from those usually warm blue eyes. Dean sits, but on the edge of his seat, just in case.

Her blue eyes are suspicious. "Tristan," she begins, in a hesitant way. Dean looks incredulous at the start, as though thinking that maybe she could actually believe Tristan, actually feel the same way. "If you took on a bet with someone…'hey, if you can get Mary to date you I'll pay you a hundred bucks' or something, then I just want to let you know that you can't win the bet."

She turns back to Dean, who has calmed down sufficiently after hearing her answer. Tristan's heart is thumping wildly as he stands there, frozen in place. "It wasn't a bet," he says, quietly, though it doesn't really matter. 'I've told her, finally!' he thinks to himself, and there is a definite amount of relief as he realizes it.

It doesn't matter that Rory just rejected him. Besides, it changes nothing, and he doesn't think that she hates him more for saying it. All that matters is that he's told her, and her reaction, how she took it, pales to nearly nothing. He's told her, and he can barely believe it. Told Rory Gilmore how he feels about her!

And then her reaction comes back to him, how disbelieving she was, as though she would never trust anything he said. It's his fault that she feels that way, really. If he'd acted differently towards her from the start, maybe she would have believed him.

As he utters the quiet words, "It wasn't a bet," Rory turns toward him, slowly. Dean doesn't notice, as he chooses that moment to sip at his juice. But in her eyes there's something that Tristan does notice. What's in her eyes is a possibility, a maybe for the future.

His heart soars as they both look into each other's eyes for a few moments, both telling the other something silently.

'I really do love you.'

'I think I understand.'

You're all that…all that…and then some
You know what…just what…I need
And no girl…no place…nowhere
Could mean a thing to me