"Hey, gorgeous girl, you're lookin' sexy tonight." A husky voice murmured in Rory's ear. Too deep to really be a man's voice, she recognised her mother straight away.
"Hi, Mom," Rory giggled, not looking round from her conversation with Rosemary.
"No fair! How come you could tell?" Lorelai whined, coming to stand next to her daughter.
"Because you sound nothing like a man." Rory reasoned.
"You should know, you've been spending a lot of time with men lately; I saw you with Logan and some hottie across the room." Lorelai complained.
"You've really gotta make your mind up, Mom. One day you're complaining that I don't know enough guys, don't go on enough dates, and the next you're complaining that I have male friends!" Rory exclaimed, giving Lorelai her full attention as Rosemary wandered off.
"Well fine, I'll agree to stop changing my mind about your guy friend status, as long as you tell me who the mysterious hottie is." Lorelai agreed, taking her daughter's arm and pulling her closer to Tristan.
"Fine, I'll tell you, but you're not gonna like it."
"Not gonna like it? I'm gonna like any guy that spent the first hour of the night squiring my gorgeous daughter around, and saving her from my mother's evil DAR friends."
"You were here for a whole hour before you came and spoke to me?" Rory asked, feigning hurt. "That's cruel, Mom, really cruel."
"Less crying, more introducing." Lorelai muttered, as they got nearer to Tristan.
"Fine, fine." Rory grumbled. "Tris, this is my mom, Lorelai." Tristan flashed the older Gilmore a winning smile and held out his hand.
"Well aren't you well trained." Lorelai giggled, flirting face on.
"Need I remind you that you're engaged, Mother?" Rory asked, sweetly. "Mom, this is Tristan DuGray."
Lorelai froze for a second. "The Tristan DuGray? The one that kissed you that time? The mean one?"
"That's me, Ms Gilmore." Tristan said, looking slightly regretful. "Or at least, that was me. Rore and I are on great terms now."
"Hmm," Lorelai looked sceptical, "If Rory's in favour of you I guess I can give you the benefit of the doubt, but if you screw up I will ruin you. Got that?"
"Loud and clear, Ma'am." Tristan looked scared despite all his best efforts to keep cool.
"And you can call me Lorelai, sweetie." She smiled, before weaving her way through the crowds to Emily.
"So, your mom is a little intense." Tristan said, breathing deeply.
"Yeah, she can be sometimes, but she seems to like you." Rory replied, picking up a drink at the bar.
"How can you tell?"
"Well, for one thing she called you 'sweetie' but also, she can't resist blond hair and a smirk." Rory giggled. "Unless it's Logan. Then she's really resistant."
"Well then obviously you should spend all your time with me to please your mother. And to please me, of course." Tristan chuckled, picking up a drink of his own. He was pleased to see Rory blushing slightly; he was definitely having an effect on her.
*
Tristan and Rory separated for a bit during the evening, each being dragged off by parents or flirtatious members of the opposite sex. It was past midnight when the party started winding down, and Rory ventured out to find him again. He was standing at the bar with Logan, a vodka and coke in his hand.
"Shouldn't it be martinis at the end of the night?" Rory asked, coming up behind them.
"There you are, beautiful! I've been looking for you." Logan said, smoothly, putting an arm around her and summoning the bartender. "A gin martini for the lady."
"Oh, you've been looking for me whilst drinking mixers with Tris?" Rory asked, sarcastically. Tristan chuckled quietly. "And don't get me started on you; letting me get dragged off by that Mitchell Davis guy. I mean really, all he wanted to talk about was horticulture! And apparently you knew him in junior high, and so must have known all about his single-mindedness."
"Sorry, Mary, I didn't see him steal you away, or I would have swept in in a jealous rage and rescued you. Mitchell is quite the ladies man."
"Sure, if you're into being ruffled in the compost heap." Rory grumbled. "And you haven't done the bowtie thing yet." The boys looked at her questioningly. "I didn't spend several minutes helping you tie that stupid thing for you to forget to untie it at the end of the night."
"Oh yeah, looking louche, I'd forgotten!" Tristan realised.
"You shouldn't forget to look louche, it detracts from the awesomeness." Rory scolded him.
"Sorry, Mary, do you want to untie the bowtie?" Tristan asked, hopefully. She grinned and tugged at the two silky ends. "You do louche-making so perfectly."
"Well I am a bit of an expert, what with being a debutante and all; we have to help out the guys all the time." Rory teased.
"Come on, Gilmore, you're like the anti-debutante!" Tristan laughed, putting a hand round her waist, naturally as they headed towards the door. "I'm surprised you didn't break down in hysterical laughter during that whole fan dance thing."
"Lemme guess, you were Summer's date when she came out." Rory remarked.
"I was indeed, and I almost killed myself laughing. She dumped me for not taking it seriously enough, but we were back together by the end of the night anyway." Tristan informed her. "Thank you for the wonderful evening, Mrs Gilmore, it's been fun."
Emily Gilmore was charmed by the DuGray boy, and especially pleased to see his arm around her granddaughter's waist. Maybe she could aim higher than the Huntzberger boy after all. "You're very welcome, Tristan. Rory, I'll see you next Friday, and you can tell me where you got that lovely dress. It makes your eyes pop." She replied, as she saw them through the door.
"I agree with your grandma on that one, Mary; your eyes are looking especially blue tonight." Tristan told her, flirtatiously.
"My ex told me that I have azure eyes." Rory replied, equally flirtatiously. Logan sighed. Tristan was taking her from right under his nose, and he couldn't even call him out through the rules. God damn high school.
*
It was Saturday, and, surprise surprise, Rory was back in the YDN office, finishing up an article. Tristan shook his head as he saw her through the glass. That girl needed to take a break. Queuing up for a cup of coffee, he ran through his options for the day in his mind.
He could buy a cup of coffee, go flirt with the redhead by the statue, who was definitely giving him the look, and remain friends with Logan till they died. He could buy two cups of coffee, go drag the hard working brunette out of the newsroom to have some fun, and possibly have Logan cut him out of his life. Difficult choice.
"What can I get you man?" The barista asked.
"One regular latte...and a large cappuccino with an extra coffee shot, please." Choice made, Tristan headed for the newsroom, and tried to come to terms with the fact that he'd just chosen a girl over his best friend.
"Hey, Mary, feel like venturing into the real world for a change?" He asked, perching on the edge of her desk.
"Not particularly. My article is due tomorrow." Rory replied, swiping her cup of coffee. "Thanks for the fuel, though."
"I am not letting you stay cooped up in here all day, article or no article. You must be almost finished proof-reading it by now. Paris said you left at nine o clock this morning." Tristan scolded her.
"When did you talk to Paris?" Rory asked, eager to distract him.
"I dropped by your dorm this morning to see if you wanted to come out, just like I'm doing now. Nice try, Rore, I'm not as easily distracted as Logan." He explained.
"Fine. Give me five minutes to save it and email it to Doyle and we can go wherever you want." She sighed, giving into the puppy dog face he had just flashed her.
"Uh uh, it doesn't take five minutes to send an email. I'll do it." He leaned over her shoulder and clicked on the little floppy disk symbol, inhaling her scent – a mixture of conditioner and perfume – as he saved. Another few clicks and the article was in Doyle's inbox. "As you can see, that took me all of thirty seconds." He said, triumphantly.
"You're amazing, whatever." Rory monotoned, as she was dragged out of the newsroom.
"Hey, Ace, I was just coming by to see if you wanted to do something." Logan remarked, as he met them at the door of the building, arms linked. Tristan waited for her reply with bated breath.
"Actually, Tris and I were thinking of hanging out today." She replied, easily. "But you could come out for a drink later, if you want."
"Sure. A drink sounds good. I'll meet you at the pub at seven?" Logan asked, looking a little downcast.
"Actually, what I had planned might get us back a bit later than that, Mary." Tristan cut in. "Mini road trip sound good?"
"Sounds great." She grinned at Tristan. "I'll call when we get back to campus, Logan."
They wandered off, chatting and giggling. Logan watched them go with a heavy heart. As far as Rory was concerned, he stood no chance against the mighty Tristan DuGray.