The Beginning of a Beginning?

By babydrag0nfly

Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girls, and I certainly don't own Tristan, but a girl can dream can't she?

A/N: hey guys! Yeah…I'm back…for now. I've been SO BUSY! IT'S INSANE! Soon, though, swimming will be over as will school, and IT'LL BE SUMMER! OH I can't wait hehe! Ok so I WOULD do my usual list of personal responses to reviewers, but I know you guys just want to read…so I'll just get to the story this time, but THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO REVIEWED! I HIT 100, WHICH IS AWESOME THANKS SO MUCH, GUYS! Now, enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 9

:Maybe in a Different Light:

"So, are we ever going to switch off drivers? Like, when you get tired I'll take over?" Rory questioned.

"No. My car. I drive," Tristan responded without taking his eyes off the road.

"What? You don't trust me with your car? I'm not going to crash it!" Rory pouted and crossed her arms. "So I have to sit here passively this entire trip! I never get to take over the wheel!" She continued pouting for a little while, then, she called out, "Fine! I get to control the music in the car!"

"Okay, fine," Tristan reluctantly gave in. "As long as it isn't too loud and doesn't disturb my driving."

Rory popped in an All-American Rejects CD, and she set it on repeat. After a few minutes of listening and kind of singing along, Rory became bored, and she told Tristan so.

"You know what you can do? Check out the maps and decide what places you want to hit. You can be the designated location/direction person," Tristan suggested.

At this, Rory almost jumped out of her seat with excitement. "I feel so special. Designated Location/Direction Person. It sounds so important hehe. I like it!" Rory exclaimed with glee. Tristan just laughed as he looked at her out of the corner of his eye.

"Okay, well, New York City is a must!" Rory decided.

"Well, yeah, and we're kind of already headed there…" Tristan agreed. "The question for NYC is how long you want to stay there and what you want to do?"

"Hmm…" Rory thought for a moment, then replied, "Museums, Broadway musicals, Ground Zero, Statue of Liberty, and of course, shopping."

"Man! So what's that? Like a week? We'll never get out of the East Coast at that rate!" Tristan laughed.

"Fine then! We'll cut the museums and Ground Zero. We have to see at least one musical, and the Statue of Liberty is like, required, and shopping…because IT'S NYC!" Rory compromised. "We can do that in about two days. Happy?"

"Much better. Where do you want to go after NYC?"

"I'm not sure yet. Either Illinois or Texas. Chicago sounds good, but so does San Antonio. We can decide later. I like the spontaneity! And now, I'm tired, so I'm going to take a nap. Wake me up when we get to New York, which should just be a couple of hours, right?"

Tristanconfirmed Rory's statement, but he found that she had already drifted off to sleep. Tristan admired Rory's sleeping form. She looked like an angel with her fair skin and long eyelashes. He smiled to himself and returned his gaze to the gray pavement and yellow lines.

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"Wake up, sleepy head!" Tristan gave Rory a gentle shove to wake her up. "I've already checked into the hotel."

Rory groaned and reluctantly got out of the car.

"Come on…you can continue your nap in the hotel room. Let's just get up there, first," Tristan ushered.

In a trance-like state, Rory trudged through the lobby and into the elevator that took them up to the 23rd floor. She was too tired to take note of her surroundings. She made her way down the hallway to her room and flopped on one of the queen-sized beds. In a matter of seconds, she was asleep, and nothing could wake her for the next two hours.

When Rory finally woke up, she felt lost and confused. She almost forgot about the whole trip with Tristan, but she remembered as she spotted Tristan lounging on the other bed, reading a book. Tristan looked up at her and smiled.

"So, are you ready for a night out on the city?" Tristan asked.

"Yeah, I guess," Rory replied. She was still a little groggy from her recent nap. "What do you have in mind?"

"Well I already called in to get tickets for the musical. We're going to see 'Wicked'."

"How did you know I wanted to see that?" Rory asked.

"Well…you were reading the book," Tristan stated matter-of-factly.

Rory laughed. Gosh! He's so perceptive and observing! Logan would never pick up on anything like that! At the thought of Logan, Rory remembered the point of her trip. She really needed to figure things out. Do I want to break it off with Logan? What about Tristan? He seems so much different lately. Rory mentally shook her head to clear her thoughts of all this. She had a musical to get ready for! "When does it start?"

"In exactly two and a half hours," Tristan checked his watch.

"OOO! What should I wear?" Rory asked allowed though it was more directed to herself.

"Anything you want. You probably don't want to wear high heels or anything seeing as we're going to walk to the theater," Tristan advised.

"Tristan DuGrey! Walking!" Rory gasped mockingly. "I didn't think you were the kind of guy to walk down Broadway. I mean…where's the white limo that drops you off at the red carpet entrance?" Rory joked.

"Well…if you really want, I can arrange that, but I just thought it would be more…normal…to walk, and plus we could check out the cool city lights and stores along the way. It's all part of the experience," Tristan explained.

"Yeah. I think walking will be fun. If we get bored, we could always make fun of the other people walking down the street," Rory giggled.

"Now that is something I never thought Rory Gilmore would do. But I guess below that sweet, innocent, face, there's a dark, wild side just begging to be set free," Tristan exaggerated and smirked.

"Well, of course, how else would I be able to get away with all those naughty things I do," Rory mirrored Tristan's smirk.

"And I guess the little nymph has a smirk of her own, as well," Tristan noticed.

"I only learn from the best," Rory credited Tristan. The two burst out laughing. "Okay, we should really get ready, now. I CALL THE BATHROOM FIRST!" Rory jumped off the bed, grabbed all her stuff, and ran around the room, trying to figure out which door led to the bathroom. After opening two closets and a door leading to a sitting room, Tristan directed her toward the real bathroom door with an amused look on his face. "Next time, before you call the bathroom first, find out which door actually leads to the bathroom!"

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An hour and a half later, Rory and Tristan were strolling down the street, side by side. Rory wore a flowing skirt and a cute tank top. With Tristan's advice, she wore one-inch heeled sandals. Though this did not help with the height difference between her and Tristan, at least her feet would live through the night. Tristan wore a collared shirt and khaki pants. They both looked casual, yet sophisticated.

They did not have to resort to making fun of any innocent bystanders since Rory was captivated by the city lights and nightlife, and she was far from bored. She kept tugging on Tristan's arm and pointing things out to him. Tristan smiled at her childish excitement.

The pair finally arrived at the theatre showing "Wicked." They took their designated seats and waited for the show to begin.

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"Wow! That's all I have to say," Rory exclaimed.

"It was a really good show. I never thought these things could be so entertaining. My parents always drag me along, and it's usually just a pain. We should do this more often," Tristan agreed.

Rory smiled back. Does he mean that in a we-should-go-on-more-dates kind of way? Because unless I'm blind, this was a lot like a date. Then again…this whole trip could be deemed a date since it's just the two of us. Maybe he just likes hanging out with people his age rather than his parents because some parents can be rather boring. Why does he have to be so confusing? But I must admit, attending this musical was really fun. Imagine flying to New York to watch a musical every weekend with Tristan. I could get used to that, but that would mean Tristan and me in a really weirdly close relationship. What am I so afraid of?

Rory was pulled out of her thoughts as Tristan asked, "So what do you want to do now?"

Rory looked across the street and smiled, "COFFEE!" She grabbed Tristan, and began dragging him to the little coffee shop.

"I should have known," Tristan muttered.

As they entered the coffee shop, Rory told Tristan, "Okay, and after this, we have to go get ice cream because I'm in a cookie dough mood."

"Good because I'm in a mint chocolate chip mood," Tristan said.

"I never thought of you as a mint chocolate chip kind of guy," Rory observed.

"And why not?" Tristan demanded.

"Because I always thought of you as…a strawberry guy. JUST KIDDING! You should have seen your face! It was priceless!" Rory laughed as she sipped her coffee.

"I AM NOT A FRUIT!" Tristan argued.

Rory couldn't stop laughing. "I know…you're not…You're such…a lady charmer," Rory said between fits of giggles.

"Damn straight," Tristan confirmed with a boost to his ego. "But the question is, do those charms work on a certain lovely lady?" Tristan lowered his voice as he looked straight into Rory's crystal blue eyes. She stopped laughing as Tristan captured and held her gaze. Suddenly, Tristan turned away, and said with a smile, "You ready for that ice cream?"

For a second, Rory was lost. She was lost in his deep blue eyes. She was lost in what he had just said. She was lost in all the un-Tristan-like things he had done. Was Rory Gilmore falling for Tristan DuGrey? Immediately, a single word popped into Rory's head—NO!

So I hope you guys liked this chapter. What do you think about the whole Rory/Tristan bonding? Is it good? Hehe so is Rory fall for Tristan? I think she is…how could she not? He's so sweet!

Sorry if some things seem off from the other chapters. I haven't written in so long, and I seem to have forgotten some things / I've been trying to reread parts so I can make the story flow.

I don't know when I'll be able to write again, but there's less than 2 months left of school…so hopefully when summer comes around I can get more done. I don't know how long this entire story will be…it could be another 15 chapters, and that could take awhile hehe

I wasn't quite sure what kind of music Rory listened to…so I just kind of made it up. If you know…please tell me and I can change it and possibly incorporate it into the rest of my story thx :)

Thanks for all who are still reading this story! I'm really grateful for all you dedicated readers and reviewers!

This chapter's title is from "Cold" by Crossfade. It has to do with Tristan being different and Rory seeing it.

Babydrag0nfly