The Twists and Turns of Life
A/N: I introduce a new character in this chapter. He and Rory have never met (you'll understand once you read) so everything that happened between them on the show didn't happen.
Chapter 9: Drunken Confession
It was cold. That was all that my body could really register; that, and the fact that my bed had gotten really hard. It felt like there were weights on my eyelids and I couldn't, for the longest time, open them. My hand went up to my face, blocking out the sun that came through the window. I opened my eyes slowly and noticed that I was on the ground. Funny - I don't remember falling asleep on the floor.
* * *
He was going insane. He wanted to tear out his hair and scream out at the top of his lungs; he just needed to do something to get all of this anger and frustration out of his system, but, of course, he didn't do it. His pride and reputation wouldn't let him. He was a together guy who didn't let anything get to him, he was strong, he needed to stay strong.
* * *
After I took a shower, I headed downstairs to the kitchen.
"Hey, honey." I smiled at my mom before giving her a hug. "Are you okay? I heard a thumping noise from your room last night. Did something happen?"
I waved it off with my hand. "Nah, I just fell asleep on the floor. Guess I just wasn't all that graceful in lying down softly."
She looked like she wanted to say something to me, but hesitation was very clear in her eyes. "What did Tristan want?"
I scrunched my eyebrows in confusion. "Tristan? He wasn't here-" That's when it came to me - Tristan, sleeping, bed, suitcase, yelling, door slamming, fainting. I shook my head quickly, not wanting her to know what happened. "Nothing happened. We just talked, then he left."
She didn't look like she believed me, but I was glad that she let it go. "Okay." She looked to be in great thought for a second before a smile appeared on her face. "So you happy to be staying with Maggie?"
I smiled too. "Totally."
* * *
I looked over at his house every few seconds, hoping, wishing, wanting, for him to just happen to appear in the doorway, waiting for me to come talk to him, but his front door never opened.
"All set." My gaze turned to my dad who had just put my last suitcase in the truck of my car.
"Great. Thank you, dad." I gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek.
"Drive safely, alright? I would like for my favorite daughter to come back to us in one piece." He gave me a smirk.
"First of all, I'm your only daughter, so I'm your favorite by default, and second of all, I'm nothing if not a safe driver."
He gave me another smile. "Call us when you get there, okay?"
"Sure thing. Bye, dad." I looked past his shoulder over to mom standing in the doorway. "Bye, mom!"
She gave me a wave and blew me a kiss. I smiled at both of them before getting into my car and driving away.
* * *
She's really leaving. Tristan watched from the window in his room as Rory drove off. He breathed in deeply before running a hand through his hair. How did I screw this up?
* * *
"Tristan?" She looked so surprised to see him, but, then, anyone would have been surprised if some teenage boy dropped by unexpectedly at their house at 2 in the morning a little drunk.
"Yep, that's me." He stumbled into the house, not really paying attention to where he was going. "You know, Lorelai, I am totally in love with your daughter." He stopped, cocking his head to one side, contemplating what he just said. He turned to her, raising his right hand out in front of him, pointing to her. "You knew that, right?"
"She looked at him weirdly, before cautiously supplying, "Yes…"
"Good," he started to wave his hands through the air, "because I was starting to think that I just somehow imagined it all. 'Cause that can happen, right? I mean, you can dream up having feelings for someone, can't you?"
She looked at him, curiously. "Are you drunk, Tristan?"
He gave a dramatic gasp. "Me? Drunk? Like that could ever happen!" He plopped down on the couch. "Hey, Lorelai…" he whispered, motioning for her to come closer so he could share a secret with her.
"What?" she played along.
"I am drunk," he whispered, then burst out laughing.
She laughed lightly, not really knowing what to do with this version of Tristan. "Okay…now that we've established that… What are you doing here?"
He got up and started pacing. "I just can't figure her out!" He looked so serious now; Lorelai was baffled by the way he could just change like that. "First we fight, then I yell, then I tell her that I like her, then I think that she is going to tell me that she likes me too, but then she tells me that she's moving somewhere-"
"Wait," she interrupted, "she told you she was moving?"
"Yep," he nodded, "she wrote it in this letter she gave me before you all left to go wherever you went," he said while waving his hand through the air.
"She's not moving, Tristan. She's just going to stay in Massachusetts for a few days until break is over. She's going to come back." He looked relieved by that, but Lorelai was a little confused. Why would Rory tell Tristan that she was going to move there? She and Lorelai were going to have a talk about that really soon…
* * *
She stepped out of her car once she reached Maggie's house. It kind of felt freeing to be somewhere new and, although she was here for a sad reason, she wished that the feeling of being able to start fresh meant something.
Once she got settled in, she and Maggie went down to the school so that they could arrange for her to go there for the time she was staying in Massachusetts. The school wasn't as large as Chilton, but she liked it better there already. She didn't feel like running to hide in the corner from all of the stuck-up, snotty people. The principal seemed very nice and she got to meet a couple of the teachers as well. She had a feeling that she was going to like it here.
* * *
His mind was so foggy. He vaguely remembered seeing Lorelai and talking to her, but he couldn't really tell if that had actually happened or if his overactive imagination had played a trick on him. He would have gone over to ask her, but he already felt like a fool. The girl that he liked, maybe even loved, was in another state and her mother might think that he is crazy. Maybe in a couple days, everything would come back to him.
* * *
The people were so welcoming that she was already wishing her parents had moved here instead of Hartford. She had made friends the second she stepped into the school and already knew the names of everyone in her classes. She fit in here, a feeling that she wanted to stay with her for a while.
* * *
He remembered. She left. He got drunk then talked to her mother. He told her that he loved her daughter. He felt like slamming his head against a wall. But, it all makes sense – he lost the girl, so why not make a fool of himself in front of her mom? At least the whole family didn't witness his little confession last night. Now he had to make sure that Lorelai didn't go around telling the embarrassing story to other people; he doubted that she would, but he had to make sure.
* * *
She felt eyes on her every once in a while. She had only been there for a few hours, her first day at the school, and she felt someone watch her. She would occasionally look around, hoping to catch who it was and always saw him. He was kind of cute, but she didn't know why he had his attention on her. She tried to shrug it off, act cool whenever he was around, but every time she saw that he was around, she tensed up.
"Hey." She was broken out of her reverie when she heard a voice. She looked up from the book she was trying to read and saw him.
"Hey." This was the first time they had spoken to each other, but all she could think was that he wasted no time.
"So…what are you up to?"
She held up the book and gave a little smile. "I'm Rory, by the way." She stuck out her hand for him to shake.
He smiled back at her. "I know," he paused for a second, shaking her hand and holding it a little longer than necessary. "Jess."
