A/N: Thanks again to all who read and reviewed last chapter. Yall are the bestest. I hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday season. I apologize again for being such a slacker on updating this fic. I can never seem to find the time for everything in my life. But to make up for it, I decided to include an extra long chapter. I decided to test out some of my creative abilities for this chapter. I hope you like them. Just a caution: there is some strong language in this chapter, so beware. So, with that being said, I present to you the next chapter. I hope you enjoy it.

"Ok, Christopher, let's go over this again," Rory stated as she rushed around the living room picking up the mess. "Tristan will be here any minute now. He'll come in, I'll introduce you, you'll shake his hand, mutter a few 'nice to meet you's' and then we'll leave. You do not deviate from the plan. Nothing else is to be said or done while Tristan is here. Got it?" Rory asked raising her eyebrow.

"I can't discuss curfew with him?" Chris asked.

"We both know I don't have a curfew."

"That's because you disregard my rules about curfew."

"Exactly," Rory replied. She would have fought the issue more with him but she didn't want to upset him before Tristan came to pick her up. She wanted everything to run smoothly. She wanted to be in a good mood and she wanted Christopher to be in a good mood too. "Do you understand? Any questions?"

"I got it Rory," Chris answered in a somewhat perturbed tone.

Rory opened her mouth to say something but was stopped when she heard the doorbell ring. She straightened her shirt, smoothing out any last minute wrinkles. "Stick to the plan," Rory said before she turned to open the door. She was nervous. She had promised Tristan the weekend before that they could do whatever he wanted. She even promised to let him meet her farther, who she barely wanted to talk to, not less have her boyfriend or any of her friends for that matter talk to him. She was even more nervous because Tristan had kept his plans for their date a secret. He wouldn't tell her anything about what they were going to do after they left her house.

Rory slightly paused before her door. She deeply inhaled and turned the door knob to let Tristan. But it wasn't Tristan who answered the door. "Angel? What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Thank god you're here Rory. I know you have your big date with Tristan tonight but I didn't know where else to go," Angel responded. Rory looked at Angel and noticed tears were beginning to swell in her eyes.

Chris walked into the living room at that moment. "Oh, uh…" he stammered. "Well, I assumed Tristan was a guy but I'm not here to judge. I'm Christopher, Rory's dad," Chris said extending his hand to shake Angel's hand.

"Uh," Rory exclaimed. She didn't know how he could be so socially challenged. She didn't know whether he actually thought Rory was a lesbian or whether he was just trying to be funny. "Christopher this is my best friend Angel, Angel this is my father Christopher," she continued, gesturing between the two with her hands.

"Rory, you never told me your dad was hot," Angel said smiling at Chris. Chris sighed heavily and left the room.

"Ew, gross." Rory made a face of utter disgust. "So, what's up?"

"I need you," she said grabbing Rory's hand, pulling her outside to her car. Angel shoved Rory into the car and hopped in after her, telling her driver to take them back to her house.

"Angel, I have a date with Tristan."

"We'll call him and tell him to pick you up at my house. I only need you for a few minutes. It's an emergency," Angel said as Rory watched the trees and sights of Stars Hollow pass by.

Rory heard the television blaring. It was on some talk show, one with couples screaming at the top of their lungs at each other. Maybe it was Jerry Springer? Either way, it was the reason she had awaken from her dreams of her and Tristan. Rory let her eyes open and was completely surprised when she didn't know where she was. She also realized that she was sleeping in a twin sized bed by herself, rather than a queen or king with Angel at her side. Rory jolted upright in the bed, panic filling her. She tried to think back to the previous night but couldn't remember a thing. There were nights that she had forgotten a thing or two or had blurry memories but she had never blacked out an entire night.

"Good morning sunshine," Tristan said in a disappointed tone.

Rory exhaled deeply. She slowly started to regain composure. At least she was in what she presumed to be Tristan's bed. "Morning," she replied with a sleepy smile. She tossed her hair back, tucking behind loose strands.

"How was your night?" he asked in a tone that was a mixture of anger, disappointment, hurt and sarcasm.

Rory looked at him and could tell he was upset with her. She thought back to the previous night. She remembered they were supposed to go on a date. She remembered Angel picking her up instead. Did she ever go on her date with Tristan? She couldn't remember. She wanted to tell Tristan that she did or didn't but she couldn't be sure of anything. So, she remained silent.

"Well, my night was just grand," he continued. This time, his tone was pure sarcasm, dripping off his every word.

"Oh, Tristan, I…" Rory begin.

"Don't remember? Do you?" he asked. He paused and watched Rory shake her head 'no.' "Let me remind you then…" he said as the memories poured out of his mouth.

The night before…

Tristan paused. He kept his hands glued on the steering wheel. He slowly inhaled and slowly exhaled, trying to regulate his pulse better. He didn't know why he was nervous. But for some reason, he wanted Rory's almost non-existent father to like him. Plus, he was nervous about their date. He didn't know how Rory would react to where he was going to take her. He hoped she'd like it. But he wasn't sure. Tristan grabbed his bouquet of roses out of the passenger seat and headed towards the front door. He knocked on the door and anxiously awaited the response.

"Hello," a man in his thirties said after opening the door.

"Hi. You must be Rory's farther. I'm Tristan, her boyfriend."

"You can call me Chris," Chris answered extending his hand towards Tristan. Tristan grabbed his hand and gave it a firm shake. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too. Is Rory ready?" Tristan asked. He hated seeming so urgent to see her but they were already running late and he hated being late for anything big.

"She's not here. Some girl named Angel came by about fifteen minutes ago and took off with her."

Tristan frowned at this. "Thanks," Tristan answered and walked away. He hopped into the car and sped off. He stopped in the middle of the town, got out of his car, and tossed the flowers into the trash can he spotted. He got back into his car and sped off towards Hartford.

"Tristan, I'm so sorry. I really am but Angel needed me. She came to me crying. I had to help her," Rory said defending herself. She couldn't quite remember why Angel needed her. Things were slowly coming back to her and all she remembered was Angel crying on their way back to her house. And once they had got there, Angel poured them shots of the strongest alcohol she had. Her own personal stash: 101 proof Whiskey. Rory remembers the first shot felt like her esophagus was on fire.

"Save your apologies," Tristan replied interrupting her. "You have no idea what I went through last night. So, I'm going to educate you. First of all, I had to cancel our plans. I had planned on taking you out to dinner with my parents to meet them. But you went M.I.A. So, I had to call and cancel on them, after they had made reservations at the finest five star restaurant in Hartford," Tristan said, giving Rory a disappointed look. "They were less than thrilled. It was a great first impression on your part," he continued, purposely making Rory feel guiltier by the second.

"Then, I had to track you down. Neither you nor Angel answered your phone when I called. So, I called just about everyone at Chilton to find out where yall were."

Rory swallowed hard. She bit her lip. She didn't want to ask but she knew she had to. Otherwise, she would never know. "Where did you find us?"

"Madeline's, Louise's, and Angel's. Which story do you want to hear first?"

Three parties in one night with 101 proof alcohol. Rory knew why she couldn't remember the night before. "Wherever you found me first," she answered. Rory hung her head low. She was ashamed of herself.

Tristan took a taste of his orange juice and began the story…

The night before…

Tristan parked his car in the circle in front of Madeline's house. He wasn't planning on staying long. He was going to find Rory and leave. He had spent the past thirty minutes calling just about everyone in his phone to see where Rory and Angel were. He went through nearly every name too before he finally reached someone who actually answered and knew where they were. Now, he was in Madeline's driveway to find her and leave. He was sure she was already wasted. He knew their routine all too well.

Tristan walked into the party scanning the crowd. He noticed a large group of people gathered around the grand piano and went to see what the big deal was. He figured at least one of them would also know where Rory or Angel was so he could leave as quickly as he could. But as he got closer to the grand piano, he realized that he wouldn't have to go looking for Rory anywhere else. She was the reason they were all gathered around the piano. Rory lied across the grand piano on her back with her shirt raised up. She had a lime in her mouth. Tristan looked away as some guy he didn't know took a body shot off his girlfriend. He couldn't watch the scene unfold.

Rory screamed in excitement. Tristan looked back towards Rory figuring that since she was screaming in excitement, that she no longer had a lime in her mouth, meaning the body shot was over. "Tristan!" she yelled as she saw Tristan. She sat up on the piano and grabbed Tristan's hands, pulling him close to her. "Wanna do a body shot?" she asked in a seductive tone before kissing him on the lips.

"No," he said pulling away from her. He was upset with her but he didn't want to cause a scene. He wanted to grab her and leave. "Can we go?" he asked in an angered voice.

"No! I don't want to leave. I'm having a good time!" she yelled as she laid back down on the piano for someone else to do a body shot on her. Tristan balled his hands up in fists and tried to count to ten. He wasn't about to lose his cool. That's all it would take to land him back in military school. And he definitely didn't want that to happen.

Tristan calmly pushed his way to front of the line and grabbed Rory's hands, pulling her off the piano. "Let's go talk somewhere," he said hoping Rory would respond better to that line.

"Fine," she said in a heavy sigh. "I'll be right back," she said with a smile to the guy who was patiently awaiting his turn for a body shot.

Tristan held Rory's hand and led them through the crowd and upstairs. He found an extravagant bedroom to the right at the top of staircase. He looked around, noticing the décor of the bedroom. He assumed it was Madeline's parents' bedroom, who were probably off visiting some marvelous country overseas. He sat on the bed and looked at Rory, who was taking in the bedroom's décor. He was still upset over her ditching their date, over her getting drunk with Angel instead, over her giving out body shots to guys who were not her boyfriend. But he didn't want to yell at her. He knew he had to choose his words carefully, especially since he was dealing with a drunken Rory rather than a sober Rory who was aware of her actions.

Tristan opened his mouth to speak but he was stopped from saying anything. Rory slowly and carefully straddled Tristan's lap. She kissed his jaw line on his right side. "You were jealous Mr. Dugrey," she half asked, half stated in between kisses. She then turned to the left side of his face and left lingering kisses along his jaw line on that side.

Tristan was jealous, it was no doubt about it but he wasn't about to let her know. Instead, he said, "We had a date remember?" he said with anger in his voice. He didn't want it to come out like that. He didn't want to start a fight. But the words just fell out of his mouth. It was like word vomit.

Rory stopped her kisses and looked like she was contemplating this statement. She smiled at Tristan instead. "We can have a date now," she responded. She kissed Tristan hard on the lips. Her hands roamed his torso, looking for the bottom of his shirt.

Tristan wanted her. He really did. But not under those circumstances. Not when she was drunk. Not when she was at some stupid party. Not when she was trying to follow Angel's footsteps, a mindless clone of the infamous Angel. He wanted it to be with the old Rory. His Mary.

Tristan gently pushed Rory to his side and got off the bed. "Not now Rory," he said. He was tired. His was tired of this routine. He was tired of this night and it was still early.

Rory got off the bed. "What's your problem? We're at a party, in a room by ourselves, and you have one of Chilton's hottest girls throwing herself at you. And you push her away like you always do. I don't understand Tristan. You always used to be very friendly with girls. You had quite the reputation. But now…" Rory paused for dramatic effect. "Maybe I should ask what's your problem with me. Am I not attractive enough for you? Cause if I'm not, then let me know. I'll stop wasting my time with you and find someone who does think I'm attractive and actually wants to sleep with me."

"Rory," he called out but it was no use. She had already bolted from the room, heading back to the party. Tristan hung his head. He breathed deeply. He didn't know what to do anymore. He didn't know how to help her. He had never seen her like this. She was way more wasted than he had ever seen her before.

Tristan followed Rory downstairs a minute later. He scanned the crowd looking for her but there were no signs of Rory. He even glanced towards the piano but no one was gathered around the piano this time. Tristan tapped on the shoulder of some guy from his English class. "Have you seen Rory Gilmore?" he asked.

"The hot brunette?" he asked. "Yea, I saw her. She just left."

"Left? With who? Where is she going?" Tristan asked panic filling his voice.

"She left with some blond. About twenty of them. They're going to Louise's for a more private party or something like that."

Tristan mumbled thanks as he headed to his car.

"Tristan, I know I screwed up. Big time. I…" Rory started.

"No. No, you don't get to talk yet. I'm not done with my story," Tristan snapped with anger in his voice.

Rory sighed heavily. She had already heard one story from one party. She didn't know if she could handle listening to two more stories from two other parties. She closed her eyes wishing it was a horrible nightmare as she listened to Tristan continue…

The night before…

Tristan walked into Louise's house. He had a mission, a plan. He was going to grab Rory and drag her home. Then, in the morning when she was sober, he planned on having a serious talk with Rory. He planned on letting her know how he felt. How she had broke his heart when she bailed on their date for a night of partying with Angel.

Tristan followed the music, laughter, and screams of excitement to the den where the he found all of the partygoers. Instead of finding a drunken Rory on a piano allowing body shots to be taken off her, he found a drunken Rory dancing barefoot on the piano. Angel was dancing barefoot on the coffee table, which had been moved next to the piano so the two could dance together. Tristan watched as Angel took a taste from a bottle of Whiskey and passed it to Rory, who took a taste too. Tristan also noticed the group of guys who were worshipping the drunken girls. Angel took off her halter top and spun it around her head. She played with it for a few more seconds before throwing it at a guy in the crowd, who Tristan assumed was the "guy of the night" as Rory called them. The guy with his newly acquired halter top grabbed both of Angel's hands and helped her off the coffee table. Angel hopped down and wasted no time before she started grinding on him to the rhythm of the music. Tristan hoped that this was one time that Rory wouldn't try to be like Angel.

Tristan deeply exhaled in relief as Rory just laughed at Angel. Tristan watched as some guy helped Rory down off the piano. He watched as the guy tightly wrapped his arms around Rory's small waist. He watched as Rory continued to smile brightly at him and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck. And he continued to watch in horror as the two began to sway to the music.

Tristan walked over to Rory to break up her dance party. He was once again going to try to get her to go home with him. It was obvious that she was drunk and had no clue what she was doing. Who knew what she was capable of doing if she was left unattended to? He had never seen Rory this drunk before. Tristan tapped on the guys' shoulder, indicating it was time for him to leave. He left and Rory just stood still looking at Tristan.

"Rory," he began.

"Tristan," she said with hate in her voice. She spun around and left.

"Rory you've had enough for one night," Tristan said following her. He quickly stepped around her blocking her path. "It's time to go home,"

"No, it's not. I'm having fun Tristan. Do you even know what fun is?" she asked bitterly.

"Rory, getting trashed and making an idiot of yourself is not fun." Rory stared at the bottle of whiskey in her hand, remaining silent. "Can we please leave?"

"You can leave whenever you want," she said. "And the only time I make an idiot of myself is when I'm with you."

Tristan sighed heavily. "I'm not leaving without you. I'm not leaving you by yourself," he replied, choosing to ignore her last comment.

Rory rolled her eyes. She found Angel in the crowd and began dancing with her. Tristan sat on the sidelines watching carefully at Rory's actions. After two songs, Angel climbed back on the coffee table and danced some more. Tristan thought Angel was about to do a strip tease. But after another song, the music stopped.

"Hey everyone!" she called into the crowd. "Louise's parents are going to be home in a few minutes so we're heading to my house." She jumped off the coffee table, grabbed the "boy of the night" with one hand and Rory with the other and began tugging them towards the door.

Angel stopped in front of Tristan on the way out. Rory and the "boy of the night" continued outside and got in Angel's car. "You know you're incredibly hot and I'd bang you in a heartbeat but I'll also fuck you up if you ever, ever hurt Rory. She's my best friend and she deserves to be treated better." Angel continued to glare at Tristan for several more intense seconds and then she left.

Tristan sighed and went to his car, hoping that he would be making the last stop of the night.

"She said that to you?" Rory asked.

"Yea," he replied. Tristan stared out of his window, avoiding Rory's look. He had become quite animated while telling the story. He had been walking around his bedroom, flinging his arms around, raising and lowering his voice to add greater emphasis.

Rory frowned slightly. Now, she not only had to make up for her own actions but those of Angel's too. Rory wanted to apologize for everything that had happened. She wanted to promise him that it would never happen again, although she wasn't sure if that was true or not. But she somehow knew that that was not the ending of the story. She could tell by the way he was acting. And although she couldn't remember the night before, she knew from previous nights that things were always out of control at Angel's. "What happened next?" she asked with shame in her voice.

Tristan laughed, an evil, tired laugh. A laugh that says "you don't want to know." But he continued with the story…

The night before…

Tristan walked into Angel's house. He had been there many times before, many times under the same conditions. He looked around Angel's living room. No one was in the living room, which was odd because that was the party room. He noticed that the bar had been broken into. Rory's empty whiskey bottle lay on the bar, alongside bottles of Tequila and Vodka. Tristan really wished someone had been keeping up with how much Rory and Angel had been drinking. He was beginning to worry that one of them might have alcohol poisoning. Tristan slowly started panicking when he didn't know where they were. He heard no noise upstairs or in the rooms downstairs. He wished he hadn't stopped for gas before coming to Angel's. He was almost ninety nine percent sure that he would have made it to Angel's before he ran out of gas. Now, he had no clue where they were.

Tristan sat on the couch in the living and pulled out his cell phone. He searched through his contacts, looking for someone's number who might have the slightest clue where they were. Tristan was about to dial Rory's number, hoping that she might actually have it on her and that she might actually answer him. He was about to press send when he heard some screams coming from out back. Tristan had completely forgotten that Angel had a patio area. Tristan went outside and saw a bunch of people with drinks and shot glasses in hand get into Angel's hot tub.

Rory took off her top and flung it at Angel. The she carefully slid out of her skirt. She was standing only in her bra, underwear, and high heels. She went to get into the hot tub but everyone kept yelling at her to take off her shoes. She laughed and kicked them off. Then, she climbed into the hot tub. Angel on the other hand, flung her bra and underwear to the side, choosing to skinny dip in the hot tub.

Tristan shook his head. Someone needed to take care of Angel as well. He would but he was having enough trouble as it was keeping up with Rory. He didn't know why he kept putting himself through this. He didn't know why he cared so much for a girl who cared so little about herself. He sighed and headed to the hot tub. This time, he approached the situation much more carefully. He decided to remain silent. And instead of trying to get Rory to leave with him, he was sure she was about to pass out any minute. It was two o'clock in the morning now. It was late. He was sure she had gone through a ton of alcohol. She would be ready to go to sleep any minute now.

"Tristan!" Louise yelled in excited. "Join us Tristan," she said ignoring the fact that Rory was sitting right next to her.

Tristan just shook his head.

"Yea Tristan," Angel said, pretending that their previous encounter hadn't occurred. "I can fit twelve in my hot tub, fifteen without clothes," she said.

"No thanks," he said. He propped himself up against the wall, waiting for Rory to slowly drift to sleep.

Rory rolled her eyes at Tristan. Rory hopped up in the hot tub and walked down the stairs. Tristan watched her carefully, making sure she didn't miss any steps on her way down. "It's a little too hot," Rory said. She reached behind her back and undid her bra. She pulled both straps off and flashed everyone in the hot tub. Everyone in the hot tub screamed in excitement, even Angel. Tristan ran over to Rory, grabbed a towel on a nearby chair and wrapped it around her.

"Rory!" he yelled upset at her.

"Stop it!" she yelled in protest. She pushed him away and tried to wiggle free from his grasp. During her struggle to get free, she tripped over her high heels. Tristan caught her before she actually fell but she still screamed, "Ow!" She started limping as she was trying to get back in the hot tub. "Ouch." She hobbled to sit down.

Tristan sighed heavily. "Let's take a look at that," he said as he helped her out of her chair. Rory stopped and put one of Angel's bath robes on. Tristan then helped her walk inside. It had better lighting for him to see her foot. Rory settled down on the sofa while Tristan examined her foot.

"When did you get so good with first aid?" she asked.

"You learn a lot when you're in military school."

Rory sighed and fell back into the sofa. Tristan continued to look at her foot. He decided that there was nothing wrong with it. Just a bruise. He looked up to tell her that she was ok and saw that she was passed out on sofa. He picked her up and carried her to his car. He walked back to the patio to grab her things and toted them back to the car. He got in the car to drive her back to his house. There was no way he was carrying her back to her house and make a bad first impression with her father. Rory was surprisingly awake when he got in the car.

"I'm taking you back to my place for you to sleep it off," he said. He threw her stuff in the back of the car. Rory didn't say anything. She just kept staring ahead. Before he knew, Rory doubled over and threw up all over the floorboard of the car. He silently cursed as he drove off.

Rory made a disgusted face. "I threw up in your car?" she asked sheepishly.

"Not in my car," he said. "In my dad's car. In his new BMW."

"I'm so sorry." Rory shook her head. She wanted to say that she'd buy him a new BMW but she knew that was out of the question.

"The maid already cleaned it up," Tristan said reading her mind.

"Tristan, I'm sorry. I really am. I don't know what came over me. I don't know how I let Angel influence me that much. I'll do whatever I can to make it up to you, to your parents. The next month is yours. Honestly. And you can become best friends with my dad. I just…I feel so horrible. Can you ever forgive me?" Rory hung her head low.

Tristan sighed. He didn't want Rory to get away with it that easy. He wanted to be mad at her for a while, for her to feel the pain and anguish that he does every time she goes out with Angel. He didn't want the conversation to end there either. He had a lot more to say to her about her "lifestyle." He wasn't going to tell her "yes, I forgive you" and hug her and let that be the end of the story. Instead, he chose a neutral route for the moment.

"Pancakes are ready," he said with no emotion at all. Tristan walked out of the bedroom headed towards the dining room.

Rory got out of bed. She knew that Tristan was still upset with her. She knew that she wasn't about to be let off the hook that easily. She vowed to never do that again. Her memory had slowly began coming back as Tristan told her about it. She now could remember taking at least five shots of Whiskey. Maybe one of Vodka. She couldn't be sure about that one. She never wanted to get that drunk again. And she definitely didn't want Tristan upset at her. Rory sighed heavily as she changed out of Tristan's pajamas and put her clothes back on. She stopped when she noticed that her belly button was pierced. It never used to be. She must have done that last night too. She pulled her shirt on when the memory came back to her.

That was how she wounded up on the piano in the first place. Her shirt showed her midriff quite well and Angel kept yelling how she had the perfect belly button to pierce. Rory kept telling her no she didn't but everyone at Madeline's disagreed. They all thought Rory would look amazing with a pierced belly button. So, Angel told Rory to hop on the piano. Rory laid down on the piano while someone pierced her belly button with a needle that had sterilized in a candle. Then, Angel put one of her belly button rings through her newly pierced belly button. She bragged to Rory, telling her she told her so. At the time, Rory thought Angel was right…her midriff did look perfect with a pierced belly button. Now, she thought she was stupid for ever listening to Angel in the first place.

"Fuck my life," Rory muttered before heading downstairs.

A/N: I apologize if I offended anyone with anything said or done in this chapter. Also, I give credit where credit is due: Angel's comment about the hot tub was a line I stole from Wildfire. All props go to them. And lastly, I had an idea of doing a complement fic about what really happened at each of these parties. I've only included what happened from Tristan's point of view, not Rory's. Let me know what you think about the possible fic. And lastly, let me know what think of the chapter as whole. Hope you liked it!