Title: I Got You
Pairing: Tristan/Rory
Rating: PG-13; language, sexual innuendos (but really, we're talking trory here. How can you not write a trory without Tristan making suggestive comments?)
Summary: Rory regrets some biting comments she made to Tristan. A tentative friendship forms and a relationship ends. What should have happened in Run Away, Little Boy.
Disclaimer: If it were up to me, I, and not Amy Sherman-Palladino, would own Gilmore Girls. But then again, I'm sure a lot of Trory fans say the same thing. Yes, I acknowledge that Tristan is a hottie- the hair is so sexy. But the second I remember it's Chad Michael Murray and he cheated on Sophia Bush (it's just wrong, I'm not a Sophia Bush fan), I become a little depressed. Okay, enough of that too. You get the point: I don't own Gilmore Girls.
Author's beginning note: I was watching Run Away, Little Boy the other day and inspiration struck me. No, it did not hurt (okay, that was lame). Anyways, this is my first fic so please be nice. Well, actually, this my first fic that I've been able to finish and be satisfied with (I'm a perfectionist when it comes to things like this. Grammar and spelling mistakes irk me to no end among many, many things). I hope you like it. The quotes in italics are from the show, you know, since plagiarism is bad and all that stuff. I wouldn't want to take credit for Amy Sherman-Palladino's brilliant work. And of course, there's the disclaimer above to be on the safe side. Okay, enough rambling. This begins right after Dean has left Miss Patty's during the rehearsal.
"You know," Tristan remarked, walking up to Rory, "I noticed you didn't cry when you kissed him. I'm starting to feel a little insecure."
"What is wrong with you?!" Rory exclaimed.
"Ooo…I think I liked you better comatose."
"I thought you weren't going to say anything."
"Did I say that?" Tristan cocked his head to the side in mock thought, pointing to himself.
"You make it impossible for anyone to be nice to you," Rory said angrily. Without thinking, she allowed the emotional roller coaster she had been on the past day affect her actions. "No wonder you had to join our group. Anyone who's actually suffered the experience of going out with you would know better," she spat cruelly.
Tristan's pager went off just as Rory's words started to sink in. When he met Rory's eyes again, she saw reckless abandonment displayed in his eyes. "Gee, I wish we could continue your analysis of how pathetic I am," Tristan said bitterly and sarcastically as he grabbed his jacket, "Unfortunately, I have to meet some friends."
As Tristan walked away, Rory was already regretting what she had said. Suddenly Paris rushed by, calling after Tristan. "Where are you going?!" Paris turned to Rory. "Where is he going?!"
In that split second, Rory made a decision. She grabbed her own jacket and grabbed Paris by the shoulder to stop her from leaving. "Paris, wait. I'll go talk to him." Paris, too stunned to say anything, simply stood in her tracks by the door as Rory rushed out into the cold night after Tristan, stumbling to put on her jacket.
She looked around and saw Tristan opening the door of his silver Mercedes across the street.
"Tristan, wait!" Rory shouted as she rushed across the street.
Tristan turned around and froze, surprised to see her. No one had ever gone after him before. No one had ever given his feelings a second thought. "Don't get your hopes up, DuGrey," he told himself.
"What do you want?" he spat out nastily.
A hurt look crossed Rory's face. "Oh, um…" she looked off in space, suddenly forgetting exactly what she was going to say.
And once again, Tristan's hopes were crushed. "Is that all?" Tristan asked, opening the door further to get inside the car.
"No!" Rory exclaimed, grabbing him by his shirt to stop him from getting in the car. Embarrassed by the questioning look Tristan gave her, she looked away as she let go of his shirt. "I'm sorry. That's what I wanted to say," she muttered. Even though she seemed to have said the words somewhat reluctantly, Tristan knew that she genuinely meant them.
Tristan stared at her, shocked. This girl never seized to amaze him. "For what?"
"For what I said. I didn't mean it. I was just…frustrated. Yeah, I admit I was mad at you quite a bit, but I was also mad at Dean for being all jealous and demanding and also at Paris for bringing everyone here even after I told her I like to keep my school life and home life separate and I was also mad at myself 'cause I'm not handling all this well and normally I handle stuff better than this and I don't understand why I'm not handling everything better. Instead of handling this better, I'm taking it out on you, and you don't deserve that, even if you are being kind of a jerk. But even when someone's being a jerk, they don't deserve to get yelled at about stuff that's not true and isn't even meant and," Rory's rambling was cut off by Tristan's hand being held up.
"Okay," he said slowly, trying to digest everything that Rory just said. "Hold on, let me say a few things before I forget what you just said." He gathered his thoughts and continued. "So, you're…sorry?" Rory noted absentmindedly that he made it seem as though the concept was foreign to him.
Rory looked at him and nodded. "Yeah."
He nodded as well, not at all used to hearing the words. "You were just…frustrated?"
"And I didn't mean to take it out on you," she added quickly.
"So, you're saying that wasn't all directed at me?" he continued, still taken aback.
"Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. It was directed at Paris, a little at my mom since she's been focusing so much on that damn wedding present," Tristan was confused by her statement but allowed her to continue. "Oh, and at Dean since he made such a big deal about you being in the group with me, making it seem like I've betrayed him in some way and should be wearing a huge red letter A on the front of my shirt. But that reference doesn't really work here since I'm not married to him."
"Right," Tristan affirmed, ruffling his hair.
"And I wanted to talk to you about our conversation earlier today. In the hall?" Rory looked Tristan in the eyes to make sure he was on the same page as she was.
"Great, this again," Tristan mumbled under his breath. "What about it?" he asked as he moved his eyes to stare at the fascinating road they were standing on.
"I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable, lecturing you like I did about who you should and shouldn't be friends with."
Tristan noticed the road was much cleaner than Hartford's. "Well, it is a small town," he reasoned to himself.
"It's up to you who you are friends with, and I shouldn't try to tell you otherwise. No one should," Rory continued. "But I just wanted to let you know that I don't think that Duncan and Bowman are good enough friends for you. I just think you're smarter and better than they are, is all. I realize you didn't ask for my opinion on the matter, but I've been worried about you."
Tristan jerked his eyes to hers. "You've been worried about me?" he blurted out in disbelief before he could think.
"Well…yeah," Rory said lamely, embarrassed at his reaction.
"Why, Mary, I didn't know you cared," he said jokingly, trying to regain his composure.
"Yeah, well, I do," she said quietly, sensing that it was important to him to find out if she did care. She was not at all upset by his regression to his immature approach and the nickname that she secretly had a soft spot for in the process of doing so.
They stood in comfortable silence for a few minutes.
Tristan was the one to break the silence. "Thanks." When Rory looked at him questioningly, he supplied an explanation. "It's nice to know someone does. Care, I mean. Not many do, if any." He stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jacket.
Rory nodded, not sure what else to do or say.
Tristan shut the driver's door and pressed the lock button on his keys. The two beeps the car emitted signaled that he was successful in locking the car. Stuffing the keys into his jacket pocket, he turned to Rory. "So…Shall we?" he pointed to Miss Patty's studio.
Rory smiled, nodding.
As the pair headed back to the studio with Tristan's hand placed gently on the small of Rory's back, Rory couldn't help but notice the warmth coming from his touch.
Rory gave Lane a reassuring smile before turning her attention back to her mom. The next thing she knew, Paris appeared out of nowhere. "I need you." Paris grabbed Rory by the arm and pulled her towards the hallway. "He's not here!" Paris exclaimed.
"Who's not here?" Rory asked in confusion.
"Tristan!" Paris cried. "I've looked everywhere. I've called his home, his cell. I've called three girls I know he's seeing."
A faint wave of jealousy passed through Rory's stomach. She pushed it aside, focusing more on the task at hand: finding Tristan.
"Why Paris, I didn't know you thought so low of me," Tristan cut in as he appeared in the doorway of the empty classroom next to the two girls, fixing the collar of his costume. Rory made a mental note to compliment her mother on the costumes after drifting her eyes over Tristan. "I can restrain myself to one girl. In fact, I frown upon those who don't."
"What were you doing in there?" Paris demanded, furious.
"Relax, Paris. I just wanted to be alone. (A/N: No, that was NOT intended to be dirty.) I didn't realize you were looking for me until I heard your little rant outside the door."
"Well, we have twenty minutes. I swear, if you mess this up, I'll castrate you," Paris threatened before stalking off.
Tristan turned to Rory. "Well, now I'm not nervous," he joked.
Rory smiled mockingly. "Don't worry, I think the female population of Chilton will murder Paris if she so much as thinks to make that threat become a reality."
"You make it sound like I sleep with every girl I date," Tristan chuckled.
"Well, from what I hear in the locker room, I had gotten that impression," Rory offered as an explanation for her previous statement.
"You shouldn't believe everything you hear. Besides, I'm not that shallow, Mary."
"You make that very hard to believe sometimes."
"That hurts, you know. I don't know how I'll ever recover from your stinging remarks," Tristan teased.
"Something tells me you'll find a way to." Rory, recognizing the voice as Dean's, turned to face him.
"Dean, hi," she gave him a feeble smile.
Dean did not return the greeting, simply staring Tristan in the eyes as if challenging him. The two males then proceeded to have a staring contest.
"Hey, looks like we've got a little party going on here. Why wasn't I invited?" Lorelai quipped, walking up to the trio.
"Mom!" Rory exclaimed, relieved.
"Hey, sweets." Lorelai wrapped an arm around Rory, squeezing her shoulder. "You looked like you needed some saving," she whispered into her daughter's ear.
Rory gave her an appreciative smile.
"Now I know you, and I know Dean. Now, are you going to introduce me to the pretty blond boy here, hun?" Lorelai asked, pointing to Tristan.
"Tristan Dugrey," Tristan held out his hand to shake Lorelai's, a charming smile on his face.
"Huh," Lorelai said dumbly, recognizing the name. She shook his hand and said nothing more.
"Mom, is Jess rubbing off on you?" Rory mocked.
"Oh, right. The name's Lorelai; none of that Ms. Gilmore crap I know you've been trained to say."
"Ladies and gentlemen, my mother, Lorelai Gilmore," Rory said, rolling her eyes.
Tristan chuckled. "Nice to meet you, Lorelai."
"I'll let you know if it's nice to meet you in a little bit, when I've decided if you should be forgiven for harassing my daughter."
"Oh. That." Tristan said nonchalantly, waving a hand in dismissal.
Lorelai smiled and then noticed Dean standing in silence. "Hey, Dean, what's with the silent treatment? Say something!"
"Something," he said tightly, still glaring at Tristan.
"Smartass," Lorelai stage whispered.
"Rory! Tristan! Get over here!" Paris barked from down the hall, poking her head out from the backstage curtain.
"Geez, that girl is like one of those people with the whips yelling 'Mush! Mush!' to the pack of dogs dragging her little sleigh thing,"
"Mom, you realize that made no sense, right?"
"I know, just go with it."
Rory gave both her mom and Dean a quick peck on the cheek.
"Good luck, sweets. You too, Bible Boy."
"Bible-"
Lorelai cut him off before Tristan could inquire as to the meaning of the nickname. "Mush! Mush!" She waved him off.
Tristan laughed and rushed to catch up with Rory.
"Bible Boy?" Tristan asked.
"My mom made it up," Rory said defensively. "After my first day here when you called me Mary."
"That means you talk about me with her. I'm flattered." Tristan taunted, his blue eyes twinkling.
"Places people, one minute!" Paris shouted, rushing by.
"What I say about you is not complimentary, mister," Rory replied.
"Oh, that reminds me. I haven't complimented you on just how exquisite you look in that dress," Tristan lowered his voice, leaning close to Rory as to invade her personal space. "Now, if only it was cut a little lower," he said huskily into her ear, brushing a finger down from Rory's neck to just above the top of the dress, causing tingles to race across Rory's skin and her cheeks to redden considerably.
Before Rory could muster a response, Tristan had walked away to take his place.
By the time the curtain had risen, Rory had just managed to get her breathing –and her heart rate- back to normal.
The play went off without a problem. That is, until the death scene.
"Oh true apothecary, thy drugs are quick," Tristan choked out. Rory had to admit that he was doing a pretty remarkable job considering he had slacked off during rehearsals. "Thus, with a kiss, I die." Tristan leaned down and placed his lips on Rory's.
Enter problem.
Instead of the blank nothingness Rory expected to feel, she felt electricity surge through her entire body, making her dizzy. She was sure that had the table not been there, she would have fallen to the floor from the weakness in her knees that she was feeling.
After what seemed like an eternity but what Rory knew was really only a second, maybe two, Tristan removed his lips from hers, his teeth grazing her bottom lip, and laid his head on her chest, supposedly dead. Rory's breathing was left irregular, causing her upper body to heave up and down slightly. It did not help that Tristan's lips were touching her neck. She was almost positive he was smirking too. "The little bastard," she thought.
After a few moments of Rory doing nothing, Tristan decided to do her a favor and remind her that the play was not over yet. "Mary, don't you have to wake up and kill yourself now?" he whispered, careful not to move anything but his lips. Rory let out a small moan audible only to Tristan from the sensation of his lips moving against her neck. The hand that wasn't facing the audience tightened its hold on her dress. She felt Tristan's lips shift into a full-blown smirk.
Rory regained her composure and managed to "awaken" as though the long dramatic pause had been completely intentional.
When the curtain fell, Paris was on them in the blink of an eye. "Gilmore! What the hell was with that extensive pause after the kiss?! Did I not say to count to three Mississippi; no more, no less?!"
Rory was at a loss of what to say so she simply muttered, "Sorry, Paris."
"Sorry?! That's all you have to say for yourself?!" Paris fumed.
"Paris, let it go, I thought it was perfect. The extra few seconds made it more dramatic," Louis said. Rory shot Louis a grateful look.
"You really think so?" Paris asked hopefully.
"Yeah, I was sitting on the edge of my seat," Brad added.
"Who asked you?" Paris snapped harshly, turning to him menacingly. Brad shrunk at least six inches and ran off in the opposite direction.
"Just calm down, Paris. I think we did great," Tristan tried his best to sound soothing.
Lorelai rushed in at that moment. "You guys were awesome!" she gushed, grinning from ear.
"See?" Tristan said.
Paris rushed to Lorelai to grill her about the outcome of the play.
Rory let out a relieved sigh, hoisted herself onto the table, and closed her eyes.
"Glad it's over?"
Rory didn't have to open her eyes to recognize the voice as Tristan's, so she simply nodded. She felt him move closer to her and opened her eyes to see that he was next to her, leaning his back against the table.
He looked her in the eyes and gave her a small smile. She returned the gesture.
"I wouldn't have minded hearing you moan just one more time, though," Tristan said, his voice low, satisfied when he saw Rory blush. "As long as you moaned my name."
"I am never going to live that down, am I?" Rory asked, lowering her eyes to the ground.
"Not if I can help it. Plus, it was quite the turn on."
Rory snapped her eyes to his, taking a sharp breath when she saw how his blue eyes had darkened noticeably.
"I couldn't help it. I probably would've done the same thing had Paris done it," she defended lamely after a moment.
"Oh, really? And why is that?"
"Because…Oh, God, this is embarrassing…" Rory muttered.
"Because why?" Tristan urged her to continue.
"Because it was my neck, okay? I'm sensitive there!" she whispered harshly.
Tristan smirked. There was a brief pause. "I'll have to keep that in mind."
"You'll have to keep what in mind?"
Both turned to see Dean. Correction: they turned to see Angry Dean; Jealous Dean.
"What is with you and butting into people's private conversations?" Tristan observed. "And honestly, the whole caveman act is getting a little tiresome."
"That was Act II's theme," Rory giggled. When Tristan looked at her in confusion, she clarified. "Cavemen."
"You're kidding me."
"Nope, it was Shakespeare with a ton of grunting. It was hilarious," Rory tried to control herself from laughing uncontrollably. Tristan was having trouble doing the same.
Dean cleared his throat. "Rory, can I talk to you?"
"Uh oh, someone's in trouble," Tristan whispered mischievously to Rory.
Rory got off the table and walked to Dean. "What's wrong?"
"What's wrong?!" Dean cried incredulously. "I'll tell you what's wrong. It's him!" He pointed violently in the direction of Tristan, who was trying to look innocent by rubbing his fingernails against his shirt and then pretending to inspect them carefully.
Rory stifled her laughter at the sight of Tristan. "What about him?"
"First of all, I didn't know you guys were actually going to kiss."
"Dean, it's Romeo and Juliet," Rory pointed out.
"I know that, Rory. But it's not just that. I thought you said you didn't like the guy? Why are you all nice and buddy-buddy with him all of a sudden?"
Rory snapped, sick of Dean's Rory's-mine-not-anyone-else's pretense. "Well excuse me for trying to make friends with someone. I figured you'd understand since you know I don't have any friends at Chilton, but I guess trying to make hell a little easier to deal with isn't okay with you. Oh, and another thing, this whole jealous act is starting to get a little tiring."
"What are you talking about?"
"You! You're always overreacting when it comes to him!" Rory shouted.
"I told you before- he has a thing for you, Rory."
"No, he doesn't. He has a different girl plastered against my locker every day, sometimes twice a day! You want me to get you one of them? I'm sure I can find one of them for you in seconds!"
"Well, if that's the case, then he was trying to make you jealous."
By now, a group of people had gathered around the couple. Lorelai was struggling to get to the front since people refused to part for her, no matter what kind of threat she threw at them.
"Don't be ridiculous, Dean," Rory said passively.
"And why did he have to be in your group?" Dean demanded crossly.
"He had ex-girlfriends in all the other groups, can you blame him for wanting to be in the only group that didn't have someone who wanted to claw his eyes out?"
"Are you really that stupid, Rory?!" Dean bellowed. Lorelai lunged forward, doubling her efforts.
Rory gaped at him, speechless. The entire room became still.
"Now, I could be wrong, but did I just hear you call Rory Gilmore, first-in-Chilton's-junior-class, stupid?" Tristan asked coldly, walking up to the pair. "That can't possibly be right because someone would have to be pretty damn stupid to do that." Lorelai ceased her efforts, gazing at Tristan respectfully.
"Stay out of this, accountant," Dean spat out.
"You know, you need some new material," Tristan fired back.
"Stop! Just stop!" Rory screamed, stretching her arms out between the two males.
Rory dropped her arms but Dean and Tristan continued glaring at one another, Dean gasping for air slightly from the screaming match. Rory stood in thought for a full minute before turning to Dean.
"We're through," she stated simply, looking him straight in the eyes and walked away from him.
"Rory!" Dean called after her. He stepped forth to go after her but was stopped by Tristan's firmly placed hand on his chest.
"Get your hands off me!" Dean cried angrily, shoving Tristan's hand away.
"No," Tristan said defiantly, replacing his hand. "You're not going after her. You've hurt her enough."
Dean, suddenly exhausted, realized Tristan was right. He nodded sadly and walked in the direction of the parking lot.
Once Dean was out of sight, Tristan rushed out of the room, past the crowd, and towards the girls' bathroom. He slammed the door open, checked under every stall, and let out a frustrated growl when he found that Rory wasn't there. He racked his brain, thinking of where she might've gone.
Suddenly, he got an idea. It wasn't very likely she would actually be there, but it was worth a shot. He whipped around and practically flew out of the bathroom and into Lorelai.
"Sorry, Lorelai," he muttered, dashing past her.
"Tristan!" she called after him. He turned back to Lorelai, hoping it would only take a second. "It was an honor to have met you," Lorelai said passionately.
Tristan's spirit soared. "Thank you," he whispered.
Lorelai grinned. "Go ahead; go find her."
Tristan smiled and dashed down the hall and out to the courtyard. He found Rory precisely where he had been thinking: the bench where they had talked about him dating Paris.
He stopped, struggling to catch his breath. He sat down next to her. Unsure of what to say, he gave it a shot.
"Hey, Mare."
He heard her sob softly for another moment, before flinging her arms around him, gripping him to her as if he would vanish at any second.
Taken aback, Tristan hesitantly wrapped his arms around her. "It's okay, Mare," he whispered into her ear as he started to stroke her hair soothingly, "I got you. You'll be okay, I promise. I got you."
Author's End Note: So. That's it. If you like it, hit the pretty review button below and if I get enough inspiration, I might add another chapter. But no guarantees since inspiration comes far and in between for me… But I do have a few ideas for a next chapter and it doesn't hurt to give me a little motivation to keep writing… And by the way, I don't mind constructive criticism. You know "You should try to work on…", etc. Not "Your writing sucks, you should go die."
