Disclaimer: Don't own Gilmore Girls or anything. I don't own Bring It or Cobra Starship either. (sorry, the songs been stuck in my head for days so I had to stick it in here. And actually, it ended up in here twice!)
AN: I'm a bit vague on the location of places and buildings in this story because I know nothing about New York and don't want to mess anything up. Hopefully it doesn't seem random or confusing!
Chapter 4
I set my laptop on the coffee table and rubbed my temples. I closed my eyes and leaned back. I promised myself it would only be for a minute but the next thing I knew I was waking up to Bring It by Cobra Starship. I sat up groggily and reached for my cell phone.
"'Lo?" I rasped. I cleared my throat and tried again. "Hello?"
"Rory? Is this a bad time? Did I wake you?" A slightly familiar voice came over the phone.
"Um, I guess you did. What time is it? Hey, who is this?" I was more awake now. Awake enough to see that it was dark outside and realize I had fallen asleep doing work again.
"Oh, sorry. This is Tristan and it's about 8:30." He said.
"Oh." I paused. "What's up?"
"You know how you said you owe me for last weekend?" He asked cautiously.
I nodded, forgetting he couldn't see me, before speaking, "Yeah. Why?" I asked.
"I figured I would subject you to a night out with my friends this weekend." He said. I couldn't see him, but I could tell he was cringing, in anticipation that I would say no.
I reached behind my head and rubbed my neck. I had a horrible kink from sleeping on the couch again. "Okay." Thinking it wasn't a bad idea. Besides, I owed him.
"Okay?" Tristan sounded surprised.
"Yeah. I owe you right?" I said voicing my earlier thoughts. Besides, how bad is a night out with your friends going to be? It's better than subjecting you to my entire family and Hartford society." I scoffed.
"Nah." Tristan drawled, "My friends can be asses when that want to be. Hmmm, I might just make sure they want to be." He added with a mischievous tone.
I laughed, "I can handle it."
"Okay then. So tomorrow…can you meet us around six?" He asked.
"Sure, where?" I agreed grabbing a pencil from the table and an unused napkin from my dinner earlier that evening.
"At Buffalo Wild Wings. It's only a few blocks up from Hole in the Wall, my sister's bookstore. You know where I mean?"
"Yeah. See you at six o'clock then." I said smiling.
"Okay. G'night, Rory."
"Night."
I hung up the phone and leaned my head back against the couch again. It had been such a weird week. I still hadn't talked to Todd since our fight last Wednesday. Today was Friday, and oddly enough, I wasn't upset. He tried to call twice and then stopped. I didn't call him, or answer the phone when he called.
Then at our staff meeting we avoided eye contact and didn't cross paths at all. It was definitely weird behavior for a couple but I was still upset with him and in my opinion, it was reasonable to be upset. Family should come before work. Always. Not the other way around. That's what mom taught me and that's what I firmly believe.
I sighed loudly and hit the speed dial for home. I wanted to talk to mom about this.
"Crap shack." Mom sighed into the phone.
"Hey mom." I sighed back.
"Hey sweets!" Mom perked up quite a bit. "What's going on?" She asked, noticing the tone in my voice.
"Not too much. I just wanted to talk." I said, sighing once again.
"Good. I love talking. Speaking of talking…have you talked to Todd yet?" She asked, smoothly throwing 'Todd' into the conversation.
I'd told mom about our disagreement on Tuesday so she knew we weren't speaking. "Nope." I said simply.
"You go, Girl!" Mom cheered honestly.
"Yeah, we'll have to talk at some point but I'm just not in the mood." I whined immaturely.
"Look babe, I like Todd. Think about it…if you can go over a week without speaking to your boyfriend and he thinks work comes before anything or anyone else…then I think you should find a new boyfriend. That's not who I want you with." She said seriously.
I rolled my eyes and sighed. "I know. I know."
"I'm serious, Rory. Hear me out ok?" She asked. When I didn't respond, she continued. "Picture it. You and Todd get married have two half-gorgeous kids and he spends all his time at work. Your kids call the mailman daddy and you're miserable. Is that what you really want?" She asked.
"Are you saying I should marry the mailman?" I responded, trying to avoid the question.
"No. Come on, Rory." Mom whined, "I'm serious here! That's not even right."
I sighed again, "Look, I know, okay? I'll figure it out."
"Fine." Mom huffed.
"But for now, can you help me?" I whined.
"With what? Since you don't want my help with relationships and all I'm good at is relationships and beauty what good am I to you?" She ranted.
"Beauty." I informed her.
"What about it?" Mom asked a bit more cheerfully.
"What would one wear to go out with a male friend who's trying to get her back for making him spend time at a lame society party, by hanging out with his friends." I stated, followed by another sigh.
"Where are you going?" She asked.
"Buffalo Wild Wings and then who knows." I responded.
"Well, be casual but look gorgeous of course. I'll ponder your wardrobe and call you back. When are you going?" She asked. I could already hear the gears grinding as she contemplated my apparel for my outing with Tristan.
"Tomorrow at six." I answered.
"Well then, you barely have time after work to get ready and leave again! Call me on your lunch break and I'll tell you what I decided." She said in a businesslike manner.
"Okay, thanks mom. I'm sorry for getting irritated with you. I know you were just trying to help." I apologized.
"It's okay babe. I'm crabby too. I love you okay?" She conceded.
"I love you too. Night, Mom." I said smiling.
"Night sweets."
I hung up and got up to go to bed. I hit the lightswitch on my way to my room sending the apartment into darkness. I didn't bother changing or washing my face. I just slipped under the covers and was gone within minutes.
----------------------------------
I stepped out of the cab, the next night at ten to six. Mom helped me decide on wearing my slightly flared blue jeans, black Dashboard Confessional tee shirt and black converse hightops. I wore my hair straight and left it down. I leaned in the window to pay the cabby and when I turned around, Tristan was standing beside me.
"Hey!" I greeted him.
"Hey, are you ready for it?" He asked, offering his arm.
"Come on bring it." I told him confidently.
"Cobra Starship. Wow. Impressive." He said appreciatively.
"I am impressive. Thank you." I said smugly, sticking my nose up in the air.
Tristan smiled. "Let's go." He said, dragging me along.
He held open the door for me and scanned the crowded restaurant. He must have spotted who he was looking for because he nodded for me to follow and led me to a half circle booth.
"Hey guys." Tristan said and motioned for them to slide over. He slid in and made room for me beside him. I slid in, thankful I didn't have a purse to store somewhere in the full booth.
Instead I'd put my money, cell phone, credit card and lip gloss in my pocket.
"This is Rory. Rory, this is Chuck, Dan, Sarah, and Nick." Tristan said, pointing to the people sitting around the table.
We all exchanged pleasantries and I surveyed the group while trying to look at a menu like they were all doing.
Chuck was fairly average. He reminded me of a much shorter Dean. At least in looks. Dan was tall, taller than Tristan and he had slightly longer, curly hair. Sarah was a beautiful blonde, tall and skinny. The perfect model stereotype. Last there was Nick who seemed average also but with reddish hair that made him stand out in a room.
"So, Rory, what do you do for a living?" Sarah asked me as she set her menu down.
I quickly decided on the shrimp and turned to answer her. "Right now I'm a fact checker but I have a few interviews for some better jobs coming up. How about yourself?" I asked politely.
"Oh me? I'm a model." She said, dismissively.
Knew it. I sucked in a breath to keep from saying something snide about her. What was this? I didn't even know her and I was hating her? Was this why Tristan said tonight would be payback?
"You just going to ask Sarah what she does or are you going to ask the rest of us too?" Chuck asked suddenly, breaking me of my thoughts.
I blinked. His tone of voice didn't seem very friendly. Maybe Tristan did tell them to be mean to me to make it rough or something. I was determined not to let any of them get to me.
"Well, I was just asking Sarah. But you guys can tell me what you do too if you'd like." I said, not backing down from his tone.
Chuck's eyes narrowed as if he was trying to decipher what meaning lay behind my words. "I'm a musician." He finally answered.
"So's my friend Lane." I replied.
"What kind of name is Lane?" Chuck scoffed and I glared at him instantly on the defensive.
"What kind of name is Chuck?" I scoffed back.
Tristan laughed. Not his normal friendly laugh. A nervous laugh. "Okay then. So what's new with you guys?" He asked, trying to diffuse the situation.
He shot Chuck a look and Chuck only stared at him and shot me another glare before turning his body towards the others and away from me. Very mature.
Tristan turned his head and leaned down towards me so no one else would hear him whispering. "He doesn't mean anything by it. That's just how Chuck is. I'm sorry."
I slumped back against the back of the booth. "You didn't do anything. Just let him know that he can say whatever he wants about me but if he brings my family or friend into this, he's going to get it." I whispered back defiantly.
Tristan smiled. An odd look entered his eyes. Not odd as in bad or creepy or anything. Just a friendly look that I couldn't seem to figure out. I smiled back but I probably looked confused so Tristan turned back to his friends.
The rest of dinner didn't go any better. First Sarah went on and on about modeling and how hot she thought she was, and how many guys had asked her out today. Then Dan started bashing journalism. If that wasn't enough, he also began to bash my paper in particular. The best part was when Chuck started railing on female musicians, shooting a meaningful look in my direction.
Nick remained a neutral party and Tristan seemed uncomfortable in this atmosphere, more uncomfortable than he had seemed at my grandmother's party. I had a feeling this was not the payback he was expecting.
"All I'm saying," Chuck continued, "Is that if a female is going to be a musician is that she should be singing back up or being a pop star or something. Chicks aren't meant for rock groups." He finished smugly.
I glared at him and couldn't hold my tongue anymore. "You're just bitter because there's girls out there who are better musicians than you and you know you could never measure up."
Chuck glared and opened his mouth to speak but I cut him off again.
"You are a jerk. You don't even know my friend but because you've decided you don't like me, you've chosen to rail on her all night long. You should just mind your own business. So screw you." I stood up. "Thank you for inviting me, Tristan. This night's been super fun." I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm.
I threw down some money on the table. "Use the change or leave it as a tip. I don't care."
Looking only at Tristan, I nodded my goodbye and walked out. I stepped into the street and hailed the first cab I saw. I opened the door and suddenly a hand was wrapped around my arm. I whipped around and saw Tristan staring at me sadly.
"Share a cab?" He asked cautiously.
"You live across town." I scoffed, still upset from what happened inside.
"I don't mind a detour." He shrugged.
I sighed, still exasperated, "Fine."
I got in and slid across the backseat to make room for Tristan.
We drove for a while before he spoke. "Look, I'm sorry about that okay? I didn't know Chuck was going to be like that. I didn't even ask the guys to give you a hard time. They were way out of line, okay?" He said, turning to me with a hopeful look in his eye.
"Fine." I said, crossing my arms.
"Ror." He sighed, "Don't be like that."
"I said fine." I answered again, unable to hide my agitation.
"I can tell you're still pissed. I know that I don't know you very well, but anyone could tell that you're still pissed." He said, giving me a pointed look.
"It's not you and your friends, Tristan. So don't worry about it." I admitted, my body relaxing a bit.
Tristan blinked and leaned towards me to make eye contact. "What's going on? Talk to me."
I sighed, "I haven't talked to Todd since last Wednesday. Not this past Wednesday but over a week ago. Mom hates him because he thinks work comes first and she wants me to break up with him." I said, letting out a deep breath. It felt good to let it all out.
"Do you want to break up with him?" He asked, not breaking eye contact.
I sighed again. "I think I do actually. It's weird. All of a sudden I just have no romantic feelings towards him. Purely platonic."
Tristan leaned back. "It'll be okay you know." He said softly.
"Thanks." I replied, giving him a small smile.
We pulled up to my apartment and I looked over at him. "You want to come up for coffee or something?" I asked shyly.
He just looked at me for a minute and then nodded. "Okay. Sure. I owe you now for that miserable evening anyways right?" He asked, smirking.
"Nope. That was payback. We're even." I laughed as I paid the cabby and we headed upstairs. When the elevator reached my floor I turned towards my apartment and stopped short. Sitting pathetically on the floor in front of my apartment, was Todd. He saw me and stood up, glancing at Tristan nervously. Tristan had stopped right behind me. He touched my shoulder and I turned.
"Rory, I'm going to go." He said, knowing I had to talk to Todd.
I nodded. "Call me sometime, okay?" I said smiling at him.
"Same to you." He said. He squeezed my shoulder once, to reassure me then got back into the elevator.
I nodded and headed towards Todd. "What are you doing here?" I asked. I didn't even try to hide how annoyed I was.
I heard the elevator doors close behind me before he answered. "Is that your new boyfriend?" He asked. His voice sounded slightly irritated.
"Um, I didn't know I was on the market for a new boyfriend." I scoffed.
Todd sighed. "I'm sorry, Rory. I've been a jerk."
"You can say that again." I huffed, crossing my arms, clearly still mad.
"Look, I said I'm sorry. We just believe in different things. We can make it work! I love you okay! I love you!" He said, practically begging.
It was the first time Todd had said I love you to me. I stared at him sadly and shook my head.
"Rory?" He asked, his shoulders sagging.
"We're over, Todd." I said, sadly.
"No. No." He said shaking his head, and reaching out to me.
I nodded slowly as I stepped slightly away from his grasp. "We're too different, Todd. If work comes first for you, we'll never work. Ever. We can't work that out. I'm sorry." I said softly.
"Is it that guy that just left?" He said, suddenly angry.
"This isn't about Tristan." I responded easily. "This is about us. We're just not compatible as a couple. We can be friends but we never should have been more than that." His shoulders sagged in defeat.
Todd sighed. "Yeah. I'm really sorry for making things hard for you, Rory. Maybe next girl I get, I'll be good to her and treat her right. I'll learn someday, right?" He chuckled, trying to lighten the situation. He looked so hopeful that I couldn't deny him.
"If you really want to, you will. I promise." I said, giving him a sad smile.
"Well then…" Todd trailed off awkwardly. "I guess I'll see you around work."
"Bye." I unlocked my apartment and went inside as he headed slowly to the elevator.
As soon as I was inside I reached for my cordless phone and called mom and dad's house. It was a Friday night and it was only 8:30 so they were probably still at Grandma's for dinner but I could leave a message.
Hey it's Lorelai and Chris and our two gorgeous kids and our soon to be gorgeous kid and our oldest gorgeous kid in spirit unless of course this is my oldest gorgeous kid because then she'd be leaving a message for herself and that would be weird. So leave one! A message that is. For the gorgeous Haydens. And Gilmores. But we're all related. Whatever...I'm so confused. BEEEEEP.
"Mom, just figured I'd let you know first. It's over between Todd and I. Talk to you tomorrow. G'night." I said, not sounding sad at all.
I hung up and went into the bedroom to change into my pajamas before settling into bed with another one of the books I'd picked up at Lucy's bookstore. Even with a breakup and a bad night, I felt strangely content and depressed at the same time. Nothing a good book and some chocolate ice cream wouldn't fix. It would all be okay in the morning and then I could talk to mom. It was all going to be okay.
AN: So, I hadn't planned on getting rid of Todd this soon. In fact I planned on the two of them making up in this scene but it just came out like this so I'm leaving it. Besides, this story is supposed to be more about Rory and Tristan building a friendship and a relationship so it's better this way anyways!
As usual, I'd appreciate some good reviews! Thank you all SO much for your reviews so far! I'm feeling a lot of support and it definitely keeps me writing! Chapter five will be up before you know it if the reviews keep flying in like this!
Also, can't forget LoVe23! You know you love the story more because of my amazing beta! Believe me, it wouldn't be as good if I didn't have LoVe23 for a beta! Thanks!
-Mellie
