Summary: What would happen if Tristin had never left Chilton?

Disclaimer: As obsessed as I am, and believe me I am, I have yet figured out a way to claim ownership on the Gilmore Girls or Chad Michael Murray. It sucks to be.

AN: It seems as if Congratulations are in order. Millions of teenage girls around the world are sad and crying. According to the cover of US Weekly it appears that Chad Michael Murray and Sophia Bush have tied the knot on April 16, 2005. According to the article the wedding was beautiful and the newlyweds were extremely happy. So Congratulations Chad and Sophia!

Chapter Four: I'm Not Hitting On You

Paris was outraged. He took his sweet time getting here. He wouldn't taker her phone calls. Their maid had given her absolutely nothing, no special cell phone number, no information about when he left or with whom he left with, nothing. Rory calls once on his cell and leaves a voicemail, she calls the house once and the maid spills her guts and gives Rory Greg Dugrey's cell phone number. Then Tristin comes running in here, and still thinks he has time to flirt with Rory, in front of her boyfriend no less. When he's finally forced backstage he starts apologizing profusely to Rory before throwing two meaningless "I'm sorry Paris'" at her. When Tristin went to get dressed in the bathroom Paris noticed the elder Dugrey walk into the auditorium. It was that moment that she knew something was up. Greg Dugrey wouldn't be caught dead at something like this. She made a mental note to show or voice her concerns, if not directly to Tristin then through Rory, after the show was over. She watched Tristin walk out of the bathroom in his Romeo costume and saw his face fall when he witnessed the "for luck" kiss Rory's farm boy boyfriend was giving her; and for a split second she almost felt sorry for him. She knew that Rory was so much more than a toy to Tristin and that it must be killing him to see her like this with Dean. Then when Dean left and Rory turned around to see Tristin staring at her with a frown on her face, Paris saw a spark of something in Rory's face that almost looked like remorse and decided that then would be the perfect time to command everyone on stage. And she did.

Rory took her place on the stage. She took her place on the bed and lied down. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before opening them. The second she opened her eyes they are locked immediately with Tristin's. "Hey Mary. Are you nervous?"

"Of course not. I've been over this scene thousands of times thanks to Paris. You on the other hand should be. You went through the scene twice in its entirety, both without the kiss." Rory said with a slight smirk on her face. She then noticed a look of slight apprehension on his. "Are you actually nervous Bible Boy?" Rory asked him sitting up and looking at him.

Tristin smirked right back at her. "Just anxious Mary, just anxious. Lie down , close your eyes and get ready for our kiss Juliet."

Rory's face took on a slight frown but regardless she did lie down and close her eyes. "Don't get cocky Dugrey. I'm dead, I won't be responsive."

Tristin smiled, taking pride in the fact that she couldn't see his face. He took a lengthy pause and watched her squirm in uneasiness. He could tell she was about to say something and her mouth opened slightly. He leaned over her and placed his mouth directly beside her ear. "Don't be so sure about that sweetheart." The second his breath grazed her ears her entire body tensed. He could tell it and so could she.

Rory was about to say something and started to sit up yet again but Tristin put his hands on her arms and stopped her. "What are you doing? Let me go!" Rory snapped

"Would if I could darlin'. Show's starting. Lie down, be dead Juliet." Tristin said

Rory smiled slightly completely unsure what exactly she was smiling about, but laid back down and closed her eyes anyway. "Whatever Romeo."

With most of the scene underway, Tristin was surprised that he actually was feeling a bit nervous. Tristin was a performer, that much was clear. He always had been. But the big kiss scene was coming up and he was nervous. It wasn't even a big kiss scene. It was just him brushing his lips against hers for less than a minute. The kiss between Rory and him at Madeline's party last year lasted far longer than this one was going to. Plus it wasn't like she even wanted him to kiss her this time. But he was still nervous.

Rory was for lack of a better word, nervous. It wasn't that the idea of kissing Tristin was making her nervous, she'd already done that before. Besides this kiss during the play wasn't even a real kiss. It was the idea of Tristin's lips on her while Dean was standing there watching that was making her nervous. Dean was already beyond jealous. That much Rory was sure of. She wasn't entirely sure why he was jealous but he was. She thought she had made it perfectly clear to Dean that she wasn't going to leave him for Tristin. That she loved him, not Tristin. Rory was shaken out of her thoughts by Tristin's words.

"Oh true apothecary! Thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die."

Tristin's lips brushed up against Rory's and he felt her entire body tense. He held his lips on hers a second and half longer than the act called for. By the time his lips left hers her entire body had relaxed and Tristin thought that maybe if he didn't have to stop that she would have kissed him back.

When his lips reached hers Rory hadn't anticipated the electricity that was created by the staged kiss. His lips remained on hers for a second and a half longer than she expected for them to. She had to force herself not to open her eyes or to react to the kiss. The words "Don't be cocky Dugrey. I'm dead I won't be responsive." and "Don't be so sure about that sweetheart." were running through her mind. "Damn you Tristin!" Rory thought to herself as he removed his lips and died. The curtain closed and clapping could be heard from the other side.

"So… good scene." Tristin said offering his hand to pull her up after he stood

"Yeah… good scene." Rory said accepting his offered hand allowing him to pull her up

The two stood there for about a minute and a halfneither of them noticing they were still holding hands. Rory was about tosay goodbye and walk awaywhen they were interrupted. "Tristin! Come here now!" Greg Dugrey yelled to his son.

"One second dad. I'll be right there." Tristin said to his father

"NOW!"

Tristin looked over at Rory and she unconsciously squeezed his hand. "There's something that I want to talk to you about Ror. It's kind of important, and before you make that face you make when you think I'm about to hit on you, it has absolutely nothing to do with you. I just need to talk to someone about it." He told her.

"Why me? Why not Paris or one of your other friends?" Rory asked confused

"I'll explain that later. How long will you be here?"

"Not much longer. I'm probably going to go to dinner with my mom and Dean."

At the mention of Dean Tristin looked down at their entwined hands. "Oh well, then maybe I'll just call you or something…" he told her his voice trailing off.

"Tristin is everything ok?" her voice drowning with worry.

"I'm not sure." He said too quietly for her to hear with his face still pointed downward looking at their hands.

"What?" she asked before looking down to see what he was looking at. She saw their hands and tensed.

Tristin noticing her tense let go of her hand. He knew she was probably trying to figure out a way to extract her hand without looking like an idiot. "I said Yes. Everything is fine. I just wanted to talk to you. Is that so wrong?"

Rory noticed a change in his demeanor and decided to ignore it. "No, Tristin that isn't so wrong. Tell you what I'll be home around 10 tonight. Call me or whatever and we'll talk ok."

"TRISTIN NOW!" came the voice of Greg Dugrey from around the hallway.

"I gotta go, but we'll talk tonight?" Tristin said to her questioningly.

"Yes, we'll talk tonight." Rory told him

Tristin wanted to kiss her on the cheek but noticed that Dean was standing behind her watching them. He couldn't help but wonder how long he had been there and hoped for Rory's sake that he hadn't seen them holding hands. "I'd kiss you goodbye but your boyfriend's watching." He said before sauntering off to his father.

Rory just watched him walk away before turning around to come face to face with Dean. "Dean. Hi…"

AN: Ok so that's chapter four, done. Read and Review.. lemme know if you like it.