A/N: Thanks for the reviews I've gotten so far.

Fairygirl07: I definitely know what you meant. I re-read it and realized that it was almost every time he spoke that he called her that. Needless to say, I took out some of the Mary's. Thanks though, I really appreciate constructive criticism.

Previously:

Rory was fed up. "Now, if you'll please excuse me, I have somewhere I need to be."

"Well, I don't. So I guess I'll see you when you get back." Tristan sat down in front of her door and stuck the ear pieces to his I-Pod into his ears. Rory gave him an evil glance before turning around and heading up the stairs, where she prayed Marty would be in his room.

The second floor was silent, which was strange. The hall was barely ever silent, and Rory found it eerie. She easily found Marty's room, and knocked on the door. She waited almost a minute, hoping, praying that Marty would come to her rescue. With no luck she turned around and walked back down the stairs, dreading that Tristan would be there waiting for her to return.

Chapter 2- The Beginning of a Friendship?

As she reached the bottom of the stairs, she stopped. He wasn't there. Was she losing her mind? She knew she'd seen him. She was almost positive of it. She still had a pain in her leg to prove it. She was hoping she could make it to her room before he inevitably returned. She walked quickly to her door. As she was fishing out her keys, her heart sank: footsteps.

"Back already? What happened to your extremely important obligation?"

"Please Tristan, I'm really not in the mood."

"Rory listen…" he broke off quickly, noting the strangeness of actually calling her by her name. "Was that weird?"

"Usually I would say no, since it is, after all, my name; but coming from you… yes it was very weird."

They both smiled.

"Listen, I'm sorry. I think we got off on the wrong foot here. I really am not the playboy I was at Chilton."

Rory looked at him strangely, strongly doubting that he was no longer a playboy.

"Ok, maybe I haven't completely abandoned my ways," he admitted. "But I can tell you that I'm not always such an ass."

Rory smiled again- somehow she also couldn't picture Tristan not acting like an ass. But then again, she thought. When he wasn't around his friends, and he was actually comfortable enough to talk to me, he wasn't so bad.

She looked at him squarely. He seemed sincere. Go out and do something fun. Why had her mother's words picked now to resonate through her mind. There was a long pause as she antagonized over whether or not to invite him to do something. She didn't really want to, but the alternative was her book on hell, or sitting in a disgusting smelling room listening to Paris's new collection of 45's.

"Hey, have you had dinner?" he asked, not knowing what else to say at that moment.

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Let me get my purse…" she had been playing with her keys. She found the right one and stuck it in the door. She turned the key and heard the lock click into place. She turned the doorknob. "I apologize for the smell," she said before opening the door.

"What sm…" Tristan was cut off as the overwhelming smell greeted him. "What the hell is that?" he asked, covering his nose.

"Paris," Rory answered plainly.

Tristan took a step back. "Excuse me, I think I just entered the Twilight Zone. You and Paris?"

"Yes, and last year it was just as much of a shock for me when I saw her in the common room with her life coach."

"Like on Oprah?" Tristan questioned. Rory nodded and laughed, remembering that her mother's response had been identical to his.

"Come on in," Rory said, inviting him into her bedroom. "It doesn't smell in here."

"Inviting me in… and closing the door…?" Tristan asked, falling back into the ease of his sexual innuendos.

"Come off it-" Rory began. "I just don't want it to smell in here."

"You just keep justifying it all away," Tristan said, sitting on the edge of Rory's bed.

"Tristan please," she almost laughed. "You should know that I have complete and utter disdain for you, and little else."

"Ok, I give," he relented quickly. "Truce?" he asked, extending his hand.

Rory rolled her eyes. "Truce," she repeated, shaking his hand. "Now can we go eat? I'm starving."

"Yeah," he replied quietly, standing up and smoothing her comforter, back to its previous perfection. "Let's go."

Tristan couldn't help but smile. After two and a half years of wanting to do things differently, he was finally getting his second chance. It was so unexpected, although he was in no way complaining about running into her tonight.

They walked silently to his car. He wondered what she was thinking about at that very moment, but more than that, he wondered if she was single, or still with that Amish bagboy. He thought back to their first kiss- at Madeline's party. It had turned out to be the perfect opportunity. He had wondered since he had met Rory what it would be like to kiss her and even though the wounds of Summer's public break up were still fresh, he couldn't resist. He went for it, it seemed as though they were connected by an invisible magnet. And then- she pulled back. At first he thought he was imagining it- but… no… she had really been crying. He had made her cry! It was worse than he thought. The kiss had been magical, in all of its innocence, but she was crying, and then she bailed. He wondered what he had done to make her cry.

Things were a little stranger than usual between them for a while, but by Junior year, when they were stuck in Shakespeare together, things had calmed down. And then there was their second kiss. Paris had made them all drive to that whacked out town to practice the scene, but at least he got to rile up the bag boy again. That had always been one of the greatest perks of his relationship with Mary. He rubbed in the fact that he got to kiss Rory (again…he was kissing her again- although he didn't mention that to Dean. He wanted a rise from the bag boy, not to be buried by him.)

She had been more nervous for that second kiss, he remembered. The bag boy hadn't crashed their rehearsal yet, but everyone in their group was staring at them. She was really tense, and he of course enjoyed the fact that he made her nervous.

His mind then wandered to the night of the play. She actually had reached out to him by that point, noting the fact that hanging out with Duncan and Bowman wasn't the smartest thing he'd ever done. He wondered if she was finally seeing him differently, seeing past his image. She had come up with points he could share with his father, in hopes that he could stay in Hartford. That struck him the most.

Then his father made a typical entrance and ruined everything. It was the moment of truth, he had to go. His father had been waiting for him at the end of the hallway. "I'd kiss you goodbye… but your boyfriend is watching" He remembered his exact words. He wasn't sure if he had imagined it, but somehow, she looked sad that he was going. Sad that… that he couldn't kiss her? he wondered. "Stop it Tristan," he had chided himself silently. "You're imagining it. She doesn't want you. She's with him." He had said one last thing before leaving her, "Take care of yourself… Mary." He remembered how sweetly she had smiled at that name, it was so different than the way she usually reacted to him calling her that.

They reached his car and he pulled himself back from his Mary Memories. Another time, another place, he thought to himself. He unlocked the doors and they both climbed in.

"You get to choose the station," Tristan stated, after putting the key in the ignition. "I'm not picky."

Rory searched through the New Haven radio stations, hoping for something good. She gave up a few minutes later. "Anything good on your I-Pod?" she asked.

"Yeah, here" he said, handing it to her. He felt a jolt go through him when their hands touched, but he made a conscious effort not to say anything about it. Rory connected the device to the car's stereo system and searched through the titles, looking for something she recognized.

She stopped on Free Bird, overdone, she knew, but she hadn't heard it in a while. The intro quickly filled the car. Seconds later Tristan reached down and lowered the volume.

"Why did you say yes?" he asked directly.

"What?" she questioned blankly.

"You didn't have to say yes, why did you?"

She thought for a moment before answering.

"I was hungry, and didn't feel like eating alone." She knew he wouldn't buy it… so she added the real reason. "Besides, somehow you always make me forget about him, and right now, that's exactly what I need to do."

"Trouble in paradise?" he pried, still wondering about her current relationship status.

"Something like that…" Rory closed her eyes in attempt to push the memories from her mind.

Tristan rested his hand on her forearm. "Well, you can count on me," he sad, attempting to sound like a hero from a cheesy movie. "I'll do what I do best, and by the end of the night, you'll be saying 'Dean who?'"

Rory couldn't help but smile. She pulled her arm away from his reach and said simply, "Thank you, Tristan."

I ain't sayin she's a gold digger, but she ain't messin with no broke- Tristan's phone broke through the awkward silence following her thank you.

"Hello?" he said, not able to look at the caller-id before answering.

"Hey Steph… of course I'm still coming… yeah, I'll be there late though… no, it isn't like that… no Steph, I'm serious… she's just an old friend… yeah, see you there." He closed his phone.

"If I'm keeping you from your girlfriend you can drop me back off at the dorm." Rory said, prying into Tristan's social life in order to better figure out his intentions with her.

"Girlfriend?" he laughed. "I don't have girlfriends. Summer was the end of that."

"Oh," Rory replied meekly. "Well then…"

"Steph is a good friend of mine. She just got back from Europe and is having a party tonight to celebrate."

"If you want to…"

"What I want, Miss Mary, is to enjoy your company for dinner so that we can catch up," he interrupted, not wanting her to bail on him now.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" she asked, tensing up.

"I distinctly remember calling a truce in your room."

"Is that all?"

"Rory, I have matured some over the past two years."

She smiled. Maybe this won't be so bad, she thought, as they pulled into the parking lot of the pub. Maybe I actually will have some fun tonight.