Disclaimer: I don't own squat.

Rory was drying her hair with a towel when Jess barged into the bathroom.

"Um, Hello!" She said, surprised.

"I need the bathroom, you've been in here forever!"

"You're just lucky I was wearing a towel. And I've got my first date with Tristan tonight."

"You mean besides the sex?"

"Yes, besides the…What did you need?" She asked, exasperated at his sarcastic tone.

"Just hurry up will you?" Rory nodded and grabbed her robe. After 12 outfits, she finally committed to one. She was just finishing her last earring when the doorbell rang. She heard Jess get the door.

"Hi, I'm looking for Rory Gilmore?" Tristan looked confused.

"You've found her. Come on in." Jess said, smiling on the inside. He always loved to see the reactions of her dates when they found out she was living with another guy. He pointed to the couch and went to get Rory.

"He's here, I heard the door." She said, before he even got a chance to say anything.

"Yeah. You look good." He said, taking a step back and admiring her.

"Thank you." She smiled triumphantly as she walked out of the bedroom and found Tristan, sitting on the couch. "Hey."

"Hi, you ready?" She nodded as she grabbed her purse.

"I won't wait up." Jess said as they left.

OOOOO

"So Mary," He said as they walked down the street. "Care to explain who that was?" She smiled.

"That is Jess."

"Jess. Brother?" He asked, knowing that he wasn't.

"No, sadly I'm an only child. Jess is my best friend. I've known him since high school."

"Ex-boyfriend?" Rory nodded and blushed. "Yeah, but we don't like to go there."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, he and I ended really badly. It's a long story, but we saw each other once and awhile and slowly got over it. And soon we decided that we were better off as friends. We've kind of pulled each other out of bad situations and really been there for each other in the worst case scenarios." Tristan nodded.

"That's cool that you have that. Not many couples can do that."

"Well, when I graduated from college, his uncle started dating my mom. So, technically, he's my step-cousin now." Tristan looked sideways at her.

"Are you serious?" He burst out laughing.

"Yeah, it was like 5 years after we dated so I'm pretty sure that it was time-barred." He looked impressed.

"Look at you! Throwing out the legal jargon."

"Don't be too impressed. I just had to write an article on a case in Florida." She explained. He nodded.

"So you're a writer?"

"Yeah, I write for some online magazines, every now and again the AP picks one of them up and it's in a paper. My mother googles my name quite frequently and lets me know what I'm in." She laughed. Tristan loved listening to her laugh. She had one of the best laughs he'd ever heard. It wasn't obnoxious or too long, it was just…sweet.

"That's really cool."

"What do you do?" She asked, realizing how stupid that sounded considering she had slept with him already.

"I'm actually a personal trainer." He said.

"Seriously?" Rory was shocked. Well that explains a lot, she thought.

"Yeah, my parents hate it, but I started working out in military school and found that it was a "constructive way of dealing with my issues"." He said, putting on his therapist voice. "Pretty soon, I was addicted."

"Well that's positive." She laughed.

"I'm serious. I have to run every day. I have to get my workout in, otherwise I go nuts."

"Are you one of those health nuts when it comes to eating too? Are you taking me to a Vegan place?" She hoped to God he wasn't.

"No," She let out the breath she was unconsciously holding.

"Oh thank God." He laughed as she collapsed on his arm, sending electricity shooting over his skin. "Because the things I eat would make anyone cringe, let alone a healthy person."

"You certainly don't look it." She blushed. He smiled.

"You know, you don't have to try so hard, I already slept with you." She said. His eyes widened at the sentence. 'Mary!' he thought, but he quickly recovered.

"Trust me, I remember." He said smirking honestly. She smiled, knowing that not many girls probably held his attention. It felt good to know that she was one of them. He glanced over to gauge her reaction, she looked...proud? This girl had definitely changed and it intrigued him.

"So where are we going?" she asked, breaking the tension that had suddenly enveloped them.

"You'll see, we are almost there." Rory looked at him annoyed.

"Lesson number one: Surprises kill me." He smirked at her.

"You'll like it. I promise." Soon the smell of food and the sound of various musical instruments could be heard. They turned the corner.

"You took me to a street fair?" Rory asked as she looked around. He nodded.

"It's more like a neighborhood block party that all of New York is invited to. I found this right after I had moved here, it's one of the coolest things to do in the city." He said as he took her hand.

"This reminds me so much of Stars Hollow. We do something like this at least once a month. Ooh! Look! They have fair food!" She said, pulling his arm towards the food booths. He laughed and followed her willingly.

OOOOO

After a perfect first date, Tristan walked Rory back to her apartment.

"Thanks for tonight, it was lovely." Rory said sincerely.

"Thank you for coming with me." He looked into her eyes and saw the willing invitation for more. He leaned in and kissed her, chastely and slowly. When he pulled away, Rory smiled and pulled him in for another kiss, this time deeper and far less pure.

"Do you want to come in for some coffee?" She asked in between kissing him. "Or some dessert?" Or some sex. She thought. He grinned against her lips.

"Is that code for what I think it is?" She nodded slowly, pulling him in for yet another kiss. You can call it whatever you'd like, as long as you come in. He groaned as he pulled himself away from her. "I can't. I have an early client tomorrow."

"How early?" She asked.

"Six AM early."

"That's in six hours, you might as well stay up at this point. By the time you go home, shower, hop into bed, we could've gone upstairs, showered, and hopped into my bed." He laughed at her.

"What are you doing tomorrow night?"

"I'm going back to Hartford for my Grandparents' dinner party."

"What time do you get back?"

"I could call you when I leave Hartford." He nodded.

"Pack a bag." He said with a grin as he kissed her again. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight." She smiled. He watched her walk into her apartment before turning and pumping his fist.

OOOOO

"So, tell me all about him!" Lorelei asked, wanting the gossip. They were sitting in the jeep in the driveway of the Gilmore house after dinner.

"He's smart, funny, and incredibly hot. Confident, but not pretentious." It was something that Rory had never imagined he would be. Of course, she wasn't the same person she had been when she was seventeen either.

"And…" she wanted more than just personality characteristics.

"Let's just say I found out why he's a personal trainer."

"There it is!" She giggled happily. "That good huh?"

"Yeah." She blushed. "Although, that's kind of what worries me."

"How can that possibly be a bad thing?"

"Every time we get around each other it's like we are in one of those Axe Body spray commercials." She paused. "God this is so awkward. I'm just worried that that is all we have, you know?"

"You've obviously talked to him, you went on a date, is there intellectual stimulation going on as well?"

"Yeah, we talked about a lot of really interesting things."

"Well, then I think you've got a keeper hon." Lorelei said. "It's not a bad thing to be physically attracted to a man who is also intelligent, it just happens so rarely that most women don't know how to respond." Rory nodded as she glanced at the clock on the dashboard.

"Ok, I've got to go now, I told him I would be there after dinner and dinner ended like twenty minutes ago." Rory said as she jumped out of her mother's jeep and into her own car.

"Be safe!" Lorelei cried.

OOOOO

Tristan buzzed Rory in and quickly checked his reflection in the mirror. He was nervous. They hadn't actually slept together without the glorious grace of alcohol in their systems to make everything seem so much easier. She knocked on the door and he went to answer it.

"Hey." He said with a smile as she walked in.

"Hi."

"Let me." He said, as she began to take off her coat. "How was your dinner?"

"Oh, pretty much the usual. Drinks discussing Hartford gossip, cordial dinner where we are all on our best behavior." He laughed.

"Ah yes, I remember it well. The parts I haven't repressed anyway." She laughed and followed him into the kitchen. "Do you want something to drink?" He asked.

"Glass of wine?" she asked. He nodded.

"White or Red?"

"Red, if you have it." He poured her a glass and handed it to her. "Thank you. How was your early client?" She asked, remembering the night before.

"Awful actually." He said with a grimace. "One of the perks of having a business in Manhattan is dealing with the trophy wives who have nothing better to do than work out for their husbands who don't notice them." She nodded.

"You must come highly recommended if you get to deal with the elite." She said with a grin on her face.

"The best on the island, or so I'm told." She laughed as he polished his fingernails on his shirt. You have no idea, she thought as her eyes stayed on his chest, even though his hand was long gone. She set her glass of wine down and walked over to him.

"And how much do you charge to make people sweat?" She asked, wrapping her arms around him.

"Why, are you interested?" He asked, pretending like she wasn't driving him crazy at the moment. She looked up at him with those big blue eyes and nodded slowly as she kissed him. Instantly, her mind turned to mush and her body took control. He pulled away.

"I think we could work something out." He replied with a gulp. He pushed her dress up revealing her thigh. He ran his hand along the outside of her leg and pulled her tighter against him, holding her behind her knee. She wanted him to take her right there on the kitchen floor and fuck her senseless.

"Hey, are you ok?" He asked. She was staring into space. And by space, he meant his chest. He smirked proudly.

"Hmm?" She was shaken from her daydream. "Oh yeah, I'm just a little tired." She said.

"Mary, would you like to share with the rest of the class what you were just thinking about?" She blushed and shook her head. "That's what I thought." He grinned. He set down his glass and took hers away. "I think the less alcohol in our systems the better." She nodded uncomfortably as she realized how close he was to her. He caught her gaze and she watched as his eyes moved towards her lips and back up to meet her again. She licked her lips as electricity crackled through the air between them. He kissed her softly, almost hesitantly, as if she would pull away. She drew him in, her arms wrapping around his back and hands resting on his shoulder blades. He broke the kiss and surprised her by taking her hand and interlocking their fingers together. He nodded towards the bedroom and she followed behind him, never releasing his hand.

OOOOO

If their first night together had been hot and fast, this was intimate and slow. They took their time, knowing they had all night to memorize each other's bodies. Tristan had shown her a side of him she hadn't seen since the piano bench all those years ago. He was gentle and truly acted as if they had an eternity to spend together. When Rory woke up the next morning, she had no desire to run away. Tristan's arms were wrapped tightly around her, even as he slept. She could feel his heart beating through his chest as she pushed her cheek tighter against him. With a kiss to his neck, she began the process of waking him up. Slowly traveling up his neck to his ear she whispered her good morning. He stirred gently and opened his eyes.

"Good morning." She said a little louder this time. He groaned as he pulled her close and pretended to go back to sleep. Now almost fully on top of him, she kissed the front of his shoulder and followed his collarbone back to his neck.

"Do you make alarm clocks, because I would love to wake up to that every morning." He asked, finally opening his tired eyes.

"I'm just getting started." She said with a grin as she began trailing kisses down his chest. She disappeared beneath the sheets but Tristan knew exactly where she was headed. He could definitely get used to this.