Rory stumbled back and collided with the wall as she struggled to remain standing. Her hot tears escaped on her face, over her bruises and fell to the floor. A select few slid into her mouth, and she tasted the salty bitterness.

            "WHO WAS HE?" Chris demanded. He rose his hand to Rory once more and brought it crashing hard across the side of her face, making her upper body jerk to the left.

            Rory fought to remain conscious and calmly repeated. "He was an old friend from Stars Hollow, just came to by to visit, and tell me about my mother." Talking was difficult, since her jaw had begun to swell. *Eleven* Rory thought. This was the eleventh time in 6 months Chris had hit her. Rory was 23, out of Harvard, and living with her boyfriend, Chris in the outerskirts of Hartford, but no where near Stars Hollow. That was at least a little over an hour away. She couldn't remember when Chris had stopped being the charming, handsome person she had fallen in love with.

~~~~~~******Flashback~~~~*****

            It was Rory's sophomore year at Harvard, and she was 20 years old. Tristan also attended Harvard. They hadn't seen each other since they departed ways back at Chilton, when they were supposed to be Romeo and Juliet. They met shortly after freshman year started, and a friendship instantly began. They were like 'peas and carrots' as they would say, often quoting from Forrest Gump; they were inseperable. A few times they had ventured at romance, but it usually ended with Rory being too scared of Tristan's previous ways.

            "Where are we going, Tristan?" Rory asked sweetly when she stepped into his car.

            Tristan laughed and simply said, "I'm setting you up."

            "What?"

            "Rory, you need a date, and I have found the perfect person."

            "Oh, really? Well, if he's anything like you, I'm not interested. And since you are your idea of a perfect person…."

            Tristan cut Rory off. "What? But you love me!"

            "I'm talking about if he's anything like you as a boyfriend."

            "Oh, don't worry. You'll like him. Smart and all that jazz. His name is Chris." Tristan said reassuringly. Rory missed the hint of hurt in his voice.

~~~~~~*****End Flashback~~~~*****

A/N: hey I know this first part was short, but I will update later. Anyway, feedback please on how you think it's going so far.