Summary: What if Tristin had never left Chilton?

Disclaimer: I don't own these people. Only in my widest dreams could I ever have control over what happens on Gilmore Girls. If I could Dean would have been gone a long time ago.

Chapter Six: I Thought She Was With You

Rory watched Dean and Lorelai drive away and sighed. She had no clue if Paris was really here and hadn't really expected that she was. She watched Tristin sit on the steps at Chilton with his face in his hands. She knew that her and Dean were going to fighting about this for a while but regardless she took a deep breath and walked over to the steps. He didn't seem to notice her sit down next to him, but came out of the trance he was in when he felt her pull one of his hands away from his face and hold it in her own. He turned his head towards her to face her and she just smiled and squeezed his hand. She could tell that he was either on the verge of crying or had just finished because his eyes were bloodshot and the thought of him crying disheartened her. They sat there for a good ten minutes neither saying a word just holding hands and staring at the ground. The wind blew and Rory shivered against the cold breeze. Tristin dropped her hand and shrugged his jacket off and wrapped it around her. She slipped her arms through the sleeves and looked over at him and smiled. "Thank you." She whispered quietly

Tristin smiled at her and grabbed for her hand again. They sat in silence for another minute or two before he spoke. "What are you doing here?"

"I didn't hear the whole thing. I only caught the end." Rory started

"And you thought I'd fill in the blanks. Why don't you ask your boyfriend I'm sure he'd fill you in." Tristin said interrupting her, his voice full of pain and anger as he yanked his hand from hers.

"No, I just wanted to make sure you were ok." She said softly reaching for his hand again.

"You shouldn't have stayed. Remember my car isn't here. I can't take you home. I can't take me home. Not that I want to go back there tonight anyway." Tristin said, his voice returning to the quiet it was before his outburst. He allowed her to take his hand back and place it in hers on her lap.

"I wasn't expecting a ride home Tristin. Like I said I wanted to make sure you were ok."

"You still shouldn't have stayed."

"I wanted to."

"I heard him you know."

"Who?"

"Dean. He's angry with you. He wanted you to go home with him."

"Yea, well it's time Dean learns not to order me around. I'm not some puppet he can manipulate into doing or thinking what he wants me to. I have my own mind and I wanted to check on you. Plus we were supposed to talk tonight remember."

"I remember." Tristin said gently. They sat in silence for what seemed like an eternity. "I broke into Bowman's dad's safe."

"You what?" Rory said

"Me, Bowman, and Duncan. We broke into his dad's safe. Duncan and Bowman took money but I didn't take anything. I was more or less the lookout. That's why I was really late. The police were letting our parents handle it and I couldn't leave until my dad got there."

"So, you apologize to his father explain that you were going through a hard time, and that you have never been more sorry that you are now." Rory said trying to give him a solution

"Bowman's dad isn't the problem now. My dad is. I think he's going to send me to military school."

"What!"

"He's been threatening me with it for years. He's on a first name basis with everyone in the admissions office. They have a spot open just waiting for me. Waiting for him to call and say he's sending me."

"He can't send you to military school."

"He can and he will."

They sat there in silence both thinking through what was just said. Rory couldn't fathom Chilton without Tristin making her life a living hell. She shivered from another cold breeze causing Tristin to look at her. "Are you cold?" he asked her quietly

"Yeah. The jacket's helping but not much." Rory said

Tristin stood up pulling her with him. "Come on. It's warm inside."

They went inside and say back down in the auditorium on the edge of the stage. "Tristin can I ask you something?"

"Yeah Ror. Ask away."

"Was this what you wanted to talk to me about? The safe incident?"

"Yeah. I wanted to warn you that I might not be here next week. You're the only one here that I'd even come close to missing, not that I think you'd miss me or anything, but I would miss you Mary."

"Why?"

"Why what? Why would I miss you?"

"No. Why did you tell me? Why was I the only one you would talk to about this?"

"You sought me out the other day Rory. We both know it was just so that I wouldn't tell Dean about the kiss at Madeline's party, but then you tried to open me up. You sounded concerned, and I couldn't help but think that I'd seriously screwed up with you. That if I hadn't been such a jerk about PJ Harvey that we'd have been friends over the summer. That I wouldn't have fallen in with Duncan and Bowman by default and I wouldn't be in this mess. That me and you could just get along. But then my pride kicked in and I smarted off to you. I'm sorry about that by the way. But the concern I heard in your voice, it wasn't fake, it was real. And it was only coming from you."

"That's not true. Paris was concerned about you too."

"And how do you know that?"

"She told me so. She said the second she saw your father tonight she started worrying about you. But she said she knew you would blow her off and asked me if I'd talk to you. Since I was already planning on doing it I agreed. But she was really worried about you too."

"Oh." he said. There was a long pause in which no one said anything or moved a muscle. "Are you warm yet?"

"Yeah. Do you want you jacket back?"

"No, I'm fine. Keep it on." Another pause and then, "So Mary how do you propose we get home?"

Dean and Lorelai drove half way home from Hartford in complete silence. They were both shaken out of their reverie by the shrill ringing of Lorelai's cell phone.

"Hello." Lorelai said

"Lorelai. This is Paris. Is Rory around?"

"I thought she was with you."

"If she were with me would I be calling you?"

"Well, obviously Paris I know she's not with you now, but regardless I thought she was with you." Lorelai could see Dean's face contort in anger when she said that.

"Well she's not with me. Where else could she be?"

Damn it Rory! "I left her on the front steps at Chilton with Tristin. She said she'd catch a ride back with you."

"I'm not at Chilton anymore. I left fifteen minutes ago. Oh well will you tell her to call me when he brings her home."

Damn It Rory! "He can't bring her home. He doesn't have his car with him and his dad sped off without him." Lorelai said thinking the whole time Damn it how am I going to get her home. "Paris can I ask you a favor."

"I guess."

"Can you pick Rory and Tristin up for me?"

"Yeah I guess so, I'm headed back up there anyway I left my Spanish book backstage. Do you want me to bring her to Stars Hollow?"

"If you wouldn't mind yes please. Thank you." Lorelai said and then wished to god that Dean wasn't there when she heard herself say, "Bring him back here too please."

"Ok, I'll see you soon. Bye." Paris said and then hung up.

Lorelai hung up her phone and looked back at Dean. "Why would you bring him back to your house!"

"Dean look, this jealousy thing you have going here is going to cost you Rory. You need to tone it down a notch."

"He has a thing for her! What is with you Gilmore girls? Are you both completely blind to him. And I think my jealousy is starting to be deserved. She lied to you! To be with him."

"Look Dean, I watched you raise your voice at my daughter today twice and I called you on it both times, what makes you think you can raise it at me. I'm not Rory. I'm not in love with you. I won't listen to it. And for your sake you better hope you never do that to her in front of Luke cause you'll never see her again. Now Rory didn't lie. Maybe she missed Paris. Maybe she couldn't find her."

"Ok, I'm sorry for raising my voice at you and her, its just he makes me crazy. Yesterday at the rehearsal he said something about a kiss and Rory looked so scared. Like he was about to tell me something that she didn't want me to know. And all I could keep thinking was 'She's cheating on me with the accountant.' And now…"

"She's not cheating on you Dean. She has never cheated on you."

"I'm scared of losing her. I'm scared I've already lost her and she just hasn't realized it."

"You have nothing to worry about Dean." Lorelai said with less conviction than she meant to and Dean picked up on it but decided it was a battle to be solved later.

Ten minutes later Lorelai was stopped in front of Dean's house. "Thank you for the ride Lorelai." He said reaching in his pocket for his keys when he felt Rory's cell phone. He mentally debated giving it to Lorelai or keeping it and chose to keep it. "Bye."

"Bye." Lorelai said and then drove off.

Tristin had just asked her how they were supposed to get home and realized that she had no clue. "Honestly Bible Boy. I haven't the faintest idea."

Tristin held in a laugh but cocked his head towards Rory and smirked at her. "Aw… how cute Mare, you have a nickname for me too."

"Don't be so smug. It's what my mom calls you. That and Spawn of Satan."

"Wow she was really right when she called that one." He said causing Rory to instantly regret saying that.

"I'm sorry… I wasn't thinking."

"It's ok Mary. Really it is. Now we should focus on our problem. How are we getting home?"

Tristin and Rory sat there in silence racking their brains. Tristin refusing to call his dad and Rory refusing to call her mom since she had lied to her. Rory was about to say she gave up when the doors to the auditorium opened and Paris walked in.

"I have been instructed to bring both of you back to Stars Hollow." Paris said walking over to the stage to look for her Spanish book.

"Both of us?" Tristin asked

"Yes, both of you. You and Rory. Lorelai wants me to bring both of you home now." came the mumbled voice of Paris Gellar from backstage

Tristin turned to Rory. "Why does your mom want me to come home with you?"

"She heard the argument. The whole thing. I think you remind her of herself when she was growing up. Why? Do you want to go home instead?" Rory asked unsure of what she wanted him to say

"Hell no. I'd rather go home with flying monkeys or oompa loompas than my parents tonight."

"Oompa Loompas?"

"The orange faces kind of freak me out."

"Are you two ready to go?" Paris asked

"Yeah." They both said in unison

Tristin hopped off the stage and grabbed Rory by the waist and pulled her down, then grabbed her hand and started pulling her back out into the cold night air. Neither one noticed that they were still holding each others hands, a factor that was not missed at all by Paris.

Dean sat down and debated whether or not he wanted to go through Rory's phone. He already knew that she had all of Tristin's numbers programmed into it. He decided against going through it and put it back in his pocket grabbed his jacket and headed over to the Lorelai's to give it back to her when she got home. And make the accountant remember that Rory was his.

AN: And this one is done now.. expect another update on this story soon and for those of you reading my Best Laid Plans story expect one of those updates before the end of the week. Now go do what I love and Review Review Review…

AN2: I want to thank everyone who is reviewing my stories... your feedback keeps me going...