Disclaimer: I don't own this. Once you start reading, you'll be able to tell ;)
A/N: Guess who's back, back again ;) Yes, it's me, DodgersGirl. I'm working on endings on my old stories, but I guess my writing has grown a little in a different direction, so it might be hard to match the beginnings and endings. I'll do my best, especially on the epilogue to Everything, and also, more chapters to If I Fall and When It's Raining.
I tried out a new penname for a while, just to experiment with various Lit stories that had no plot. (I was ordinarywords, if you're interested in searching for and reading those...lol, I know how much you all have missed the lack of shame in my self-publicity.)
FutureFic: *Rory is single, and she is a sophomore at Yale
*She has been friends with Jess since their breakup in Stars Hollow before, but she wants
him back
*Tristan and Jess have known each other since they met at the same coffee shop in New York.
And that should be enough info for now. Please, feedback is appreciated. Thanks in advance for reading, if someone actually reads ;)
OffTopic but Important: I LOVE Jess and Rory on the show. *Sigh* Their kisses more than make up for the lacking chemistry between Dean and Rory *winces and looks around for Jess haters*. But I loved Tristan too. So I love both, and even though I like Jess a little better, I decided to try this story idea out for the trories.
Just Irresistibility
Ch 1-Serendipitous
By DodgersGirl
Tristan DuGrey strode into his favorite coffee shop in New York. He usually strode in craving a caffeine jolt after long working days interning and studying, but this time he was only looking for company in the form of the counter man. He smirked triumphantly when he noticed a tall, slim, dark-haired man wearing a navy apron and a cool, uninterested expression. Tristan quickened his pace to the counter and clapped the man on the shoulder.
"Hey Mariano. It's been a while."
Jess Mariano looked up at Tristan's smirk and icy blue eyes, and grinned, finally finding an escape from the monotony of his job.
"If you define a few months as a while, then, yeah, I guess it has." Jess cocked his head to one side and expertly filled a coffee cup with coffee, cream, and sugar for Tristan. He slid it across the counter towards his old friend, managing not to spill on the highly-polished counter in the process. "So, DuGrey, what the hell is up with you?"
"Obviously more than what's up with you." Tristan remarked, gesturing widely to the nearly empty coffee shop with a snide smile.
"Hey, it's not my fault that this job is the only frickin' one within a few miles of school. Some of us don't have our daddy's internship to fall back on when we can't find a job. Although, I must admit, sometimes I pity you. This place could be better than spending the day with assholic powersuits and clouds of cigar smoke."
Tristan punched him lightly. "Some of us are feeling cynical tonight."
"You're usually the first one to join me in my cynicism."
"Yeah, well, not today."
"Does this have something to do with a chick, by any chance?"
"Doesn't it always?" asked Tristan, with an air of cocky self-assurance.
"Well, which one is it this time? Phoenix? Olivia? Ambrosia?"
"There was never an Ambrosia,"
"Hey, it was the best moneyed-sounding name I could come up with off the top of my head."
"You've been reading too much."
"Am I supposed to keep guessing?"
"All right, all right. I saw this girl that I used to go to Chilton with today. I used to be in love with the girl, and I saw her and..." Tristan continued for a few minutes, his voice never quite passing over the void in the air between his mouth and Jess's ears.
And the sound of 'Chilton', Jess' ears perked, a smile forming on his lips. Hadn't Rory mentioned someone by the name of Tristan before? The smile on Tristan's face hinted that it was her. It was the same odd innocent effect she had, leaving all the hollows in you filled with her smile, seeking out deepest thoughts from your mind with those eyes. It had been them together once. Jess knew how intoxicating she could be. The glint in his eye had to do with her.
"Mind if I give it a guess?" Jess inquired casually, lighting a cigarette.
Tristan shrugged.
"Could this, by any chance, have to do with Rory Gilmore?"
Tristan just stared. "Wait, wait. You know Rory Gilmore?"
"Only too well, my friend. Only too well. So, what? Why are you all Brady Bunch all of a sudden?"
"Well," he began, "It all kind of started this morning. I had this dumbass convention at Yale for all the Honors English majors in the New England area...."
[Flashback]
"Shit." Tristan moaned as he glanced at the alarm clock.
The numbers 7:50 flashed menacing crimson in his eyes. He was supposed to be in Connecticut for 10. That gave him about 2 hours to shower, get dressed, and drive all the way to Yale University.
Wondering blankly why his alarm hadn't gone off, Tristan turned on the shower, letting the warm water run over his body and jump him into some kind of awakened state. He quickly finished and dried off, pulling on his clothing as he headed towards the door. With a quick glance in the mirror, he grabbed his keys and screeched out of his space by his loft apartment in the outskirts of the city.
For 2 hours, he drove at least 20 miles over the speed limit down the freeway, praying to God he would make it on time.
As he pulled up by Yale 2 and ½ hours later, he wondered what good praying had really done him anyway.
Hastily, he pulled into a parking space, inching in between a black Benz and a blue Jetta. Unfortunately he inched too far towards the Jetta. An ominous crunch echoed in the late morning air.
"This can't get any worse." Tristan mumbled scribbling his name, phone number, and instructions to stay put if they could until after the seminar was over on a napkin he found in his glove box.
Placing the paper under the Jetta's wipers, he sprinted towards the doors of the University, following the signs for the convention with a sick feeling in his stomach the whole way. Tristan didn't bother to stop to notice the date on the signs, either.
~*~
10 minutes later, Tristan returned to his car. Having asked someone on campus, he had finally realized he had the dates mixed up in the first place. Extremely irritated, he opened the door, cursing along the way, until he was interrupted by a tap on the shoulder. Inwardly groaning, he spun, grinding his teeth in frustration.
His frustration melted though, when he saw her standing there. Her hair blew back, chestnut glorious, and the blue of her eyes shone neon against the smokiness of the cloudy morning. Her lips were pursed, her expression somewhere between annoyed and amused. He could tell she had recognized him instantly, and he smiled inwardly.
"Well. I should've known that I'd meet up with the guy that bothered me all through high school again because he hit my car. At least I've found someone like you, Tristan, who can afford to pay for this little hit and run." She feigned annoyance, but the childish side of her brought out her impatience to know what he was doing there in front of her and how he had gotten there, not to mention why he had hit her car.
Tristan was silent for a few minutes, and just as he mustered to find his voice, her own interrupted.
"So, Tristan, how've you been? What are you doing here? How many girls have you been with since I last saw you?" Rory bombarded him with teasing questions, a smile in her voice and slipping out from underneath her serious expression.
"Well, Mary, I've been well, I should ask you the same thing, and you should know that I can't count that high." Tristan regarded her last comment with a smirk.
"Of course. Counting past one thousand was always difficult for you, especially with all that blonde bedhead clouding your ability to think. Maybe that's why you hit my car this morning. I new car, I might add."
Tristan felt a pang of guilt and winced. "Sorry, Rory. I'll pay for the damage and everything. It's been a long morning."
"Wow. You really must be sorry. You actually addressed me by my real name."
"And sassier than usual. You're getting feistier. Try to let out all those pent-up feelings. I know you want me." He teased, but it was gentle, and Rory smiled and shook her head lightly.
"Some people never change."
"Hey, I've changed...but only slightly."
"Oh yeah?" She tipped his head to challenge that statement.
"You could let me take you out for coffee and I'll prove it to you. Besides, after this car charade you could probably use some caffeine or something. It prevents the escaping of hostility."
"We-el...I don't have any more classes this morning..." she trailed off.
Tristan gestured towards his car questioningly. Rory couldn't help but smile. The two thought in tandem how easy it was to revert back to their old ways. It was like nothing had changed. But as Tristan opened the door for her, Rory couldn't help but think that maybe he had changed. But only slightly.
~*~
"So, you actually survived military school, huh? Surprising. I would have thought the lack of estrogen would drive you crazy."
"Well, I'm getting plenty right now. And maybe more to come." Tristan remarked slyly, awaiting her blush. It didn't come. She sipped from her mug and grinned easily.
"Maybe, DuGrey. Maybe."
He smiled, thinking how she had grown self-assured, and then teased huskily, "Well, I'm not busy tonight."
"Some of us have lives."
"Oh, really? And what it is it you plan on doing, other than being with me?"
"I'm driving up to New York."
"New York?"
"To see an old friend." She replied simply.
"I live in New York."
Rory stared. "Where?" she asked.
"I can write down the address for you. Maybe you can pay me a visit," he offered, extending a subtle invitation.
"Sure. Maybe I will."
The two finished their coffees. She rose, and parted with a smile, slipping the piece of paper scrawled with ink in her coat pocket. With a small wave, she departed, leaving Tristan with a smile on his face and two empty coffee cups.
[End Flashback]
"Man, you haven't seen her in years, you saw her for one afternoon, and you're already whipped."
"I'm not whipped, Mariano. Put in your other contact."
"I heard your retelling. Put in your other hearing aid. Just the way you say her name gives everything away." Jess affected a feminine air and tossed his hand carelessly. "Rory," he giggled, letting loose a loud, delicate, girly sigh. "You're whipped."
"Look," he continued more seriously. "I've known her for years. She's the closest thing I have to a family, or someone who's there for me, and if you like her, fine. But if you hurt her, I'll kick your ass. We've been through shit. I dated her at one point, and its not to say I wouldn't do it again, other than the fact that I've got a girlfriend right now. That I care for. But all that aside, we've been broken and thrown back together, and I love her more than anything. Don't do anything to her." Jess's eyes flashed sharply as he spoke, his words a gentle reprimand, ribbing Tristan for his usual habits regarding women.
"I couldn't hurt her. I knew her for a while, too." Tristan replied quickly.
"Well, well, let the games begin, then," Jess replied with his own smirk.
"I have to go," Tristan replied, pulling on his coat. "I just got back to town around 5, and it's almost 8 now."
"You gonna sit and wait for her? Maybe bake some cookies while you're at it? Have 'em ready for her?"
"Go back to the books, Mariano," Tristan replied, smirking. He walked out the door. Moments later, Rory Gilmore walked in.
~*~
"Dodger," she sighed, grinning at the sight of him bent over his book. "You always were the literary type."
"Rory?" he asked, a smile on his face as he looked up in the darkened shop. It was her. "Tristan'll be happy about this one..." he thought to himself.
He ran over to hug her. She smiled and sighed, relaxing in the warmth of his embrace. He felt like home to her.
"So, how've you been?" they asked each other in unison. They laughed together in a way that only old friends can, and as he began to talk, she admired the way his jawline curved shadowed in the low lamplight from the corner. And she smiled.
~*~
Please Note: The plot will progress in the next chapter. This chapter was just to set up some things, almost a prologue.
Next chapter: Interaction between Tristan and Rory at his apartment, Rory figures out that Tristan is close with Jess and uses it to her advantage to find things out about Jess. Tristan falls for Rory, while Rory falls too...but not for Tristan. For now.
THANKS FOR READING! ;)