Chapter 3

A/N: Thanks erdi99 and Klyssie for the reviews! Now onto chapter 3!

Rory slid into the smooth leather seat of Tristan's silver BMW. Something about being in close proximity in such a small space made her feel a little vulnerable. She wondered what Tristan had thought about her, now that he knew everything, he probably didn't think she was a Mary anymore.

"So where to?" Tristan asked, breaking the silence.

"Oh, my mom's house in Stars Hollow. I'm living with her for the time being, since I just got back from the campaign trail. Although I'm not sure for how much longer, I still have the same bed from when I was a kid."

"Must be pretty uncomfortable." He said.

"Yeah, and definitely not big enough for two."

They sat in comfortable silence, while Rory decided to take a good look at Tristan. He definitely filled out since high school. You could tell under his suit that his shoulders were broad, and that he was trim. His upper body was shaped like a triangle. His dirty blonde hair was still the same, although he styled it a little neater now for his profession. He wore a grey suit that seemed to bring out the blue in his eyes, and in the car his scent seemed almost heavenly. He smelled nice, whatever cologne he wore was a good choice.

"What is it?" he questioned.

Rory didn't realize he had caught her staring.

"Nothing, I was just noticing the differences in your appearance since high school."

"Oh? You like what you see?" he smirked.

"That is so like you Tristan. You just look different that's all. Older."

"Well you do as well, but you look great Rory."

"Thanks." She blushed.

At this point they were pulling into Lorelai's driveway.

"Well this is me."

"So this is where you grew up." He noted.

"Yep, my childhood home. I love it here."

"It was interesting, the one time I came here."

"You haven't seen it during a festival, the whole town gets together to decorate, and we have all kinds of carnival games and food and activities. It's a ton of fun. Especially when the Founder's Day punch is involved, although then it can get a little crazy, because Miss Patty and Babette start hitting on everyone, and I mean everyone… and sorry I'm rambling." She apologized.

"It's ok, it's cute."

"But hey, thanks so much for the ride. My mom must still be at work, her jeep isn't out front."

"No problem. It was good to see you."

"It was surprisingly good to see you too Tristan. I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, goodnight, Mary."

"Bye."

Rory exited the car and smiled. Her first day at her new job was full of surprises, well one in particular, but it was nice. She unlocked the door, put her bag down, and headed into the living room to turn on the TV. Her cell phone rang and she picked it up.

"Hey Babe!" William said when she answered.

"Oh Hi Will, how are you?"

"Good, just got off work. I wanted to call and see how your first day went."
"It was good! I was assigned to go watch and review Hamlet on Friday night, so I did some research on the directors and actors today to see what I'm in for." She explained.

"A little different than writing about politics." He noticed.

"Yeah, well you gotta start somewhere, and there is already someone who writes most of the politics right now."

"That must be a bummer for you."

"Actually it's not so bad, as it turns out, it's one of my old high school classmates."

"Paris?" Will asked.

"No, not Paris, I believe she's in med school, or law school or something at Harvard."
"Who is it?"

"No one you know. They actually ended up transferring school before I graduated."

"I see, well that's cool, at least you have a friend at work."
"Yeah it's nice to not be alone in a new environment." She agreed. "Wills, I gotta go, my mom was supposed to pick me up today and didn't, so I need to call her to make sure she's ok."

"Oh really? How did you get home? When am I going to be able to meet your mother?"

"My friend gave me a ride, and soon!" She promised.

"Okay, have a good night babe, love you."

"Love you too, goodnight."

Rory felt a little unsettled about her conversation with William. She didn't know why she failed to mention Tristan by name, or the fact that he was a male coworker. She was just a little worried about what Will would think if she had told him the only person she knew at her new job was a guy from high school that she had shared a kiss with. Of course she would never tell him that, since it was all in the past, and she didn't want him to worry with him being so far away. She put her thoughts aside and called the inn to let her mother know she was home and didn't need her to come pick her up. Lorelai informed her that one of the pipes had a leak and she needed to get someone to repair it before it caused more water damage, and she was sorry for forgetting to pick her up. Rory told her it was Ok, and that Tristan had given her a ride home. After her phone call, Rory decided to eat some dinner and get to bed early. Gypsy was opening up shop a little early so Rory could pick up her car and make it to work on time.

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Tristan drove back to his apartment in Harford. He didn't live too far from the office, about a 10 minute drive. Even though Stars Hollow was well out of the way, he didn't mind driving Rory home. He unlocked his front door, and tossed his keys onto a table in the entryway. He popped a microwave dinner in, plopped down on the couch, and turned on CNN. As the broadcaster reported the nightly news, Tristan found himself thinking about Rory. He had always hoped she would come back into his life. Although he wasn't her innocent Mary anymore, he supposed it didn't matter too much, there would always be something about her that was almost sheltered. She still had faith in people, and she knew how to have fun. She was gorgeous as well, he would never tire of looking into her bright blue eyes. Unfortunately, she had a boyfriend, and it seemed to be serious. It made sense though, a girl like Rory would never be single for long. As much as he would love to date her, he figured he would just be her friend for now, it was better than nothing, and he would take what he could get. He didn't want a repeat of Chilton.

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"Hey, I'm sorry I gave you such a hard time for a while." Tristan apologized.

"Oh, it's ok." Rory replied.

"It is?" He asked.

"Well no, but you're sad." She admitted.

"Yeah well, I am sorry."

"I accept your apology."

"Oh man, this is a great party." Tristan changed the subject.

"Yeah not bad," she agreed, "It gave me a chance to catch up on my reading."

"You are very odd. You know that?"

"Thank you." She said.

"You're welcome." He looked in her eyes, and leaned closer. She knew what he was going to do, he stopped just short of her lips, and made sure she was watching, giving her a chance to turn away, but she didn't. She leaned in, their lips locked, and they shared their first kiss. But instead of crying and running away, this time Rory stayed, she let her hands wrap around his neck and curl into his hair as their kiss intensified…

Rory awoke startled and sweating and sat up in bed. "That did not happen in real life." She told herself aloud. Walking into the kitchen, she poured herself a glass of cold water, considered dumping it on her head, but instead downed it in one gulp. She hadn't thought of that kiss in years, it was so embarrassing. She must've dreamed about it because she had thought of it earlier briefly. But why did she stay instead of running away this time? Deciding it was better not to think about it, she headed back to bed, but tossed and turned for rest of the night.

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The next 2 days were pretty uneventful for Rory. She wasn't exactly avoiding Tristan, she saw him at lunch, and talked about work and the weather, but they didn't dive into any topics that were personal. She was just unnerved by her dream about their kiss, and how real it felt this time. After work she would go home and have dinner with her mother, chat with William on the phone, and looked for an affordable apartment. Friday rolled around and Rory was excited to go to the play and write her first article for the Courier. She met Tristan in the break room at lunch.

"Hey Rory." He greeted her.

"Hi!" She enthusiastically replied.

"You're awfully chipper today." He noticed.

"I'm just excited about writing my first article, the play will be fun too."

"I'm sure it will be, so is your boyfriend going with you?"
"Oh no, that would be quite the commute for him." She explained.

"Yeah? Where does he live?"

"Chicago."

"Oh." Tristan said, surprised. He had no idea that her boyfriend lived so far away. "That's a bummer." On the inside however, Tristan was giddy.

"Yeah, long distance is difficult, but he's looking for jobs out here so we can move in together."

"That's good." Tristan said, but was disappointed to hear it. "Well if you want some company tonight, I wouldn't mind tagging along. It's the least I could do, considering I missed the last Shakespearean play we were both supposed to attend." He smirked.

"I don't know Tristan." She looked down at her hands.

"I just figured you wouldn't want to go alone." He said.

Rory didn't know what to do. Of course she wouldn't mind his company, but at the same time, she thought it seemed almost too much like a date, and didn't want to feel like she was betraying William. On the other hand, it was just her coworker, and she was going to the play for work, so what's the worst that could happen?

"You're right." She agreed, "I would enjoy your company tonight. I'll meet you at the Hartford Stage at 7:30?"

"Looking forward to it." He replied with a smile.

She wasn't sure if it was the best idea to let Tristan come along, and she definitely wasn't sure why she felt a flutter in her stomach at the thought of it.