Chapter 9: Hung up
As
soon as the door shut behind them Lorelai was standing in front of
Tristin hand stuck out in front of her. "Hi
I'm Lorelai Gilmore - Rory's hott older sister."
Rory's
eye's widened instantly. "Mom!" She
looked from her mother to Tristin frantically.
Tristin laughed
good-naturedly, while shaking her hand. "
Tristin DuGrey. It's a pleasure to meet you Lorelai. "
Smiling
Lorelai stood silently for a few seconds while twisting her hands
behind her back. "Sooo Tristin ... You
single?"
Rory dropped her head into
her hands and let out a long groan, Tristin simply laughed again.
"Yes, I am - but I have a very strong
feeling that you
are not."
Lorelai smiled wickedly.
"Who said I was asking for me?"
Rory's head shot up instantly.
"MOM!" Grabbing her mother by the
wrist she pulled her into the kitchen.
As they were walking away,
Tristin herd Lorelai whispering rather loudly to Rory. "Was
he that hott in high-school?" Which
was followed by another groan from Rory. "What
the hell were you always complaining about?! If the guy looks like
that - you let him call you whatever he wants."
They were now in what he assumed was the kitchen and he could still
hear them. "What
- is there not enough girls at Harvard to feed that huge ego of
yours?" Tristin turned to see Paris
sitting in a chair in the living room.
Smiling he walked into the
room. "Hey their only feeding what you
started - correct me if I'm wrong here - but I believe it was you,
who first told me just how amazingly gorgeous I am."
Paris
rolled her eye's while remaining seated. "
Spare me - We were in kindergarten, and I believe what I told you
was that I liked your eye's because they were blue which is my
favorite color, and your hair because it's the same color as
mine."
Tristin laughed and stretched
his arms out, signaling for her to give him a hug. Paris rolled her
eye's once again before getting up and falling into his tight
embrace. As he felt her body slowly begin to shake, he began to rub
her back."Shh ... hey it's ok.
Everything's going to be all right I promise." He
whispered softly to her.
Paris pulled away and rubbed her hands
over face trying to rid her eye's and cheeks of any sign of
tears.Then with an exasperated groan she fell back into her chair -
her hands never leaving her face. "God
what is wrong with me?! Why can't I stop crying?"
Tristin sighed and sat down on the coffee table in front of her.
Reaching out he slowly pulled her hands away from her face, but she
wouldn't meet his eye's. He began to talk anyway. "I
don't know ... I mean you think - maybe
you might still-"
Shooting
forward Paris cut him off. "No."
Tristin simply tried again. "Look
all I'm saying is-"
Paris held a hand
up as if to silence him. " Tristin I'm
warning you - do not even go there." Her
voice held a murderous edge to it.
He sighed in defeat.
"OK. I'm sorry." After pausing for
a second, he stood up. " You know what
Paris? I don't know what to tell you. ... Except ... get over
it."
Paris looked up at him and
narrowed her eye's. "Excuse me?" She
stood up, her hands automatically on her hip's.
Looking down at
her he tried to hold back his laughter at their height difference. He
had to help her get through this, and this was the only way he knew
how. "You herd me. Get Over It. It's been
8 years! How can you possibly still be hung up on it? I mean unless
your still in love with him?"HallwayThey
had been listening sense Tristin walked into the living room. Hiding
behind the wall separating them and the living room. Both Lorelai and
Rory had gasped when he told her to get over it, but Rory quickly
realized what he was doing, Lorelai however' mouth was hanging open
in shock. Rory knew that the only way to get through to Paris was to
challenge her. He was good she had to give him that. And if he was as
smart as she thought, he expected the slap across his face that came
right after his last words, just like she did. She herd her mom gasp
in surprise. Looking over at her she held a finger to her mouth,
silently telling her to be quiet. In response Lorelai stuck her
tongue out at her. Tristin's voice brought their attention back to
the ongoing conversation.
'Wow. Now
that was weak ... I guess this whole Logan thing affected you more
then I thought. You've lost your fire Geller."
Lorelai
looked over at her daughter not understanding why she wasn't in there
sticking up for her friend.
"Now
you listen to me. Not now or ever again will I ever feel anything but
disgust towards that thing you call a cousin."
'You mean
Logan?" Silence. 'Come
on Paris say his name."
"I do not love - Logan."
Each word was forced and came through
gritted teeth.
'You see how easy that
was?'
"What are you doing here DuGrey?"
'You asked me
to come.' They herd the playfulness in
his voice, and they knew as well as he did, that it was only making
her angrier.
"Your high - I did no
such thing."
'If you didn't want my help you wouldn't have
called me."
"I called you to tell you off because I knew
- excuse me - know that you knew he was transferring to Yale. And you
just so happened to forget to tell me."
'You mean like how
you to forgot to tell me that you and Rory are roommates?'
"Talk
about still being hung up on people." Silence.
"It's been 5 years!" She
threw his earlier words back at him.
Now it was Rory's mouth that hung open in surprise. "How did I get brought into this?" She whispered to her mom, who mimicked her by holding a finger to her mouth.
'You
know what - that's not the issue here. The issue is you and Logan.
Now tell me, are you over it?'
Living
roomParis stood silent, her arms
crossed in front of her chest and her head hung.
He had to strain
to hear her when she whispered her reply. "Excuse
me, I didn't get that."
She looked up
at him, her eye's filled with tears, and her face showing nothing but
anger. "I said - no."
Sighing,
he turned around and sat on the couch. "Paris-"
He started to reason.
She cut him off. "He
cheated on me Tristin." He couldn't look
at her. "I told him I loved him, and he
cheated on me!" He stayed quiet, and
Paris sat beside him. "How am I supposed
to just get over that?" She asked
quietly."He was my Best Friend."
Tristin
wrapped his arm around her and she leaned her head on his shoulder.
"You
mean after me of course."
Rolling
her eye's Paris gave a patronizing nod. "Of
course." They
both let out a low laugh. When Tristin began to approach the subject
again, Paris lifted her head. "Are
you guy's hungry?" His
face showed nothing but confusion until he herd Lorelai sigh loudly
from a few feet away.
'Finally
I thought it was just me!'
When
she emerged from behind the wall he saw Rory's arm shoot out in an
attempt to pull her back. "Mom!"
Lorelai
grabbed the outstretched hand and pulled her from her hiding place.
'It's
pretty late - there's nothing really open...'
Rory
and Tristin's eye's locked automatically, she gave him a half smile
and let go of her mothers hand.
Apparently they had been
staring longer then either of them had thought because by the time
they turned their attention back to the conversation, a meal had been
chosen and both Paris and Lorelai were making their way to the
kitchen.
Tristin sat quietly, while Rory stood twisting her hands
in front of her. They began to speak at the same
time.
'I'm'
"How"
They
both gave a nervous laugh. But Rory was the first to try again. 'I'm
really sorry about that... I don't usually listen in on peoples
conversations."
Tristin
gave a small nod."How
long were you back there?"
'Oh not long at all. We didn't
hear anything if that's what your wondering. Well, I mean we herd the
end of it - but that's all.' She
answered quickly.
Smiling he shook his head. "Your
a horrible
liar."
Laughing
she sat down next to him. 'Get
over it.' Shock
overtook his face, and a small smile began to form. Before he could
respond Rory picked up the remote that was sitting on the coffee
table and tucked both legs beneath her. 'Wanna
watch a movie?'
"Sure. But uh - I choose!" He
reached over and took the remote from her.
'Hey!
My house my remote!' She
reached over and tried to get it back from him.
"You
mean kind of like how it was my
conversation?"
Roryautomatically
drew back and rolled her eye's at Tristin's triumphant smile. After a
moment of silence she turned to look at him."You
do realize that you played that card way to soon right? I mean my
guilt over that was pretty bad - and now you can never use it again.
HA!" She
smiled brightly, happy that she no longer felt guilty for
eavesdropping.
Trisitn smiled slightly and gave a small thoughtful
nod. "Never
again huh?"
While
shaking her head, her smile seemed to grow. 'Nope.'
"Why
Rory Gilmore - is that your way of telling me that you've decided to
keep me around?"
He put a hand to his heart and let out a loud sigh.
Not being able
to help it - she laughed. Then after a few seconds she gave a small
nod. 'Ya
know, I think it is.'
Tristin
who had been flipping through the channels, stopped and looked over
at her, she was smiling.
"What?"
She
turned her body so that she was facing him. 'What
I mean is ... well your not 16 anymore Tristin. We can be friends.'
Tristin gave her a funny look before he copied her sitting
position and looked at her. He laughed and shook his head. "I'm
sorry - did you just insult me and offer me friendship in the same
sentence?"
Rory
laughed and tilted her head to the right. 'You
know what I mean.'
"No - I don't. I think I need you to
explain it to me.' He
smirked at her and Rory looked down in embarrassment.
Then with a
sudden burst of courage she met his eye's. 'You
were an Ass.' She
said in an obvious tone.
Tristin's eye's grew wide but he couldn't
help but smile. "Wow
very nice."
Rory
rolled her eye's. 'You
were a jerk and you know it.'
"And
if I hadn't I sure do now."
'Whatever I can do to
help.'
Before
he could respond, she looked over at the TV and began to squeal. 'Yea
Willy Wonka!' Off
of Tristins confused look, Rory pointed to the TV. 'Willy
Wonka and The Chocolate Factory!'
When
he looked at the TV their was a man in a hat singing some song ...
he kept changing colors. If he had to be completely honest he would
admit that at first the man kind of creeped him out. But he just
shrugged his shoulders and sat the remote down on the table. "OK."
She
couldn't believe the look on his face. He looked so confused.
'How can anybody grow up without ever seeing Willy Wonka and The
Chocolate Factory! That's insane!' 'Please
tell me I'm just imagining things. Tell me you've seen this movie
before.'
"I've
seen this movie before...?" He replied
slightly embarrassed.
The room was silent, Rory sat staring wide
eyed at Tristin who shifted uncomfortably in his seat. After about a
minute she stood up. 'I'm going to change into
something a little more comfortable...'
Tristin
smirked and opened his mouth to say something but stopped when he saw
the look she was giving him. "What? All I
was gonna say was it's about time. I mean you smell like Paris Uncle
Rick."
Deciding not to comment on
that she continued as if he had said nothing. 'And
then I'm going to come back and we're going to watch the DVD.' With
a shake of her head and a held back smile, she turned and walked out
of the room.
KitchenRory
entered the kitchen just as the back door opened and Lorelai and
paris walked in. They were each carrying 2 bags with Lukes written
across the front. She looked at the purple watch wrapped around her
wrist and then back at the two women who had yet to see her. They
were whispering to eachother and trying to move as quietly as
possible. "It's 4am." They
both spun and met Rory with guilt filled eye's. "Where
we're you two?" Each held up a bag. "How
did you get those? Luke isn't open this late... Oh no - mom."
Rory said in a motherly tone.
Lorelai
sucked in her bottom lip, then stomped her foot like a child throwing
a tantrum. 'He said it was for emergency's."
She whined.
Rory crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Yea
like if he leaves the gas on - not whenever you have a midnight
danish craving."
Paris threw her arm
in the air and snapped her fingers. "Danish's!
That was what we forgot!"
'Ooooh
yea...'
Rory dropped her arms to her
sides loudly. "You forgot the
Danish's?"
'Oh well look at little miss perfect over there,
'it's only for emergency's - blah blah blah'.'
She waved her hands around, danced around the kitchen and did her
best Rory imitation.
Rory glared at her mother. "You
know what we have a serious crisis going on in the living room - so
I'll just be sure to tell Luke tomorrow." Lorelai
stopped dancing and Paris eye's grew and her heart momentarily
stopped, she automatically assumed it was something to do with Logan.
"Tristins never seen Willy wonka and the
Chocolate Factory! Can you believe that!"
Lorelai's
mouth dropped open and even Paris whispered an unbelieving ' oh my
God'. ' Your not serious right? ... Oh My
God.' With that Lorelai walked past her
daughter and into the living room.
Paris sat down at the
kitchen table and started taking the food from the bags. Rory twisted
her hands in front of her then sat down. "Hey
Paris?"
'Hmm?'
"Who's your Uncle Rick?"
Paris
glanced at her curiously before returning to her task. 'Dad's
brother. He's a drunk.' After a second she
looked up and sniffed the air. 'Ya know - you
kinda smell like him.'
Rory rolled her
eye's and stood up. She walked into her room and shut the door.
Paris took the last dish out of the bag then leaned back in
her chair and laid her hands in her lap. 'There's
something she isn't telling me.'
After a
few more minutes Rory opened the door and walked out in sweats and a
tank-top that read 'Take me I'm yours' on it and had a picture of a
cup of coffee right under.. Her hair was sitting in a messy bun on
top of her head.
She was only slightly surprised when she saw
Paris still sitting there. She walked over to the table and sat back
down. "We need to talk ... about
Logan."
Paris dropped her head
between her knees and rocked back and forth. 'Oh
God - you slept with him.'
Rory stared in
surprise - not knowing what to say she began to stutter. "Wh
- I - I - I ..."
'Oh my God...'
Regaining
some control Rory leaned forward, her arms wrapped around her
stomach. "Paris!"
She whispered harshly. "I did not sleep
with him! Where would you even get an idea like that?!"
Paris
head shot up. 'What? You didn't?'
"No,
I didn't. But nice to know what you think of me." She
didn't try to hide the hurt in her voice.
Paris sighed and sat
forward. 'Rory - that's not what I meant. It's
not about you - it's him. I know how he is - it wouldn't matter that
your my best friend - trust me.'
Realizing
where that came from she sighed. "Hey -
don't ever worry about that with me OK? You can trust me." Paris
gave a small smile and nodded her head. "But
..." Rory continued. "Speaking
of Finn."
Paris looked at her like
she was crazy. 'Who was speaking of
Finn?'
"Nobody - just go with it Paris."
Paris
rolled her eye's and leaned back. 'God I swear
your starting to think just like that slacker.'
"Paris"
'Honestly
Rory why you ever talked to him in the first place is beyond me - you
can and have done so much better then him.'
"Paris."
'
Well Ok maybe you haven't yet - but I mean you can.'
"What's
that supposed to mean!?"
'Nothing - God Rory stay on topic,
this isn't about you.'
"Me - You - But - agh! Whatever anyway
... SPEAKING OF FINN ...
he called me this afternoon -"
'While the sun was still up?'
She moved her head back and her eye's
slightly grew.
" Yea, it kinda worried
me to at first. But uh funny thing - ha..." Rory
let out a nervous laugh.
Seeing the look of uncertainty wash over
Rorys face Paris began to get worried. 'Why do
I have a feeling that I'm not going to like where this is
going?'
"Turns out Logan knows
Finn." Paris paled and and sat
quietly."They apparently went to the same
boarding school. Best Friends." She kept
her eye's on Paris waiting for some type of reaction, when she got
none she continued. "That's where I was
tonight - Logan asked me if I'd go with him to meet them at the
pub..."
'Them...' She repeated in a
soft whisper.
"Yea Finn and"
Paris
cut her off with another whisper, this one a little louder, but
choked. 'Colin...'
