a/n - once again i appreciate the reviews. it's just so great to know that people are actually enjoying reading this as much as i do writing it. :)

so without further ado (and keeping in mind the disclaimer), on with the story... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 11 - The Start of Something

"So that's everything?"

"We're finally done?!" Tristan feigned shock as he collapsed on the couch. "It's amazing how much junk you two have for only one summer. Do you mind me asking how exactly you got all that here?"

"Yes, I do mind and for both of you two's information, we are not done. We have one last item to unpack." Rory smiled in glee as she ran into the next room and emerged with the lamp that Paris hated with such a passion. Tristan spotted her first and began laughing.

"The evil monkey lamp, yes!" He jumped out off the couch, suddenly bursting with energy. "I say we put it right over here." He gestured for the table in the center of the room. Paris just made a face.

"I thought I'd left that thing in the bathroom of our last room."

"You did, but I rescued the Dirks."

"The Dirks?"

"Well, my mother has a strange fetish for naming things, so when we got the lamp she named it Dirk. But that just didn't seem right to me because there were three separate monkeys, and they deserved to be recognized as individuals and not just a part of the whole. So then my mom named the top monkey here Dirk and we spent all afternoon trying to come up with acceptable names for the remaining monkeys. I liked Ward and she liked Flip. But do you really see this monkey as a Flip? I don't think so. So we were forced to settle on Dirk, Dirk, and Dirk, thereby making the lamp, in shorthand, the Dirks." Rory turned to her audience, "Do you understand?"

"Wow. A trip into the warped minds of Rory Gilmore and her mother." Tristan shook his head, grinning at Paris who was covering her face.

"Believe me. It's not a pretty place."

"Are you two about done?" Rory placed her hands on her hips in mock anger, earning a smile from Paris.

"I just find it amusing that he is scared of you and your mother without ever having actually met her."

"I take that as a no?"

"Yeah. I'm done now. We've got a ton of things to do today. We're already three hours behind in the itinerary I took the liberty of making, which means we won't make it to the Aquarium today, unless...maybe if we skip lunch and take the tour of the Chicago Art Institute at six instead of four..." Paris grabbed her purse and walked out the door, mumbling to herself. Rory just smiled at Tristan, her eyes twinkling.

"So roomie, you regretting taking us in yet?" He responded by wrapping his arm around her shoulder and leading her out of the room after Paris.

"You? Not a chance. Paris on the other hand..." Smiling, Rory leaned into his embrace. For the first time in months, she was finally feeling content, and it amazed her. Here in Chicago, Illinois, miles away from everything and everyone she'd ever related to happiness, and she was actually satisfied. Shooting Tristan a devious look, Rory broke away from his grasp and started jogging down the hall.

"You know... I think I'm going to tell her you said that." Then turning around she yelled, "Paris! Wait up."

"Don't you dare." Tristan was laughing too as he locked the door behind then and ran to catch up to the giggling girls.

* * * * *

"That was fun." Lorelai smiled up at Luke and was delighted to see that he returned the smile tooth for tooth.

"Yeah... it was." Reaching over, he took her hand in his as they snuggled closer on the couch, the snow on the tv screen flashing obnoxiously in the background. Luke shot an annoyed look at the screen.

"Are you going to turn that off?"

"Why? Does it bother you?"

"Yes."

"It didn't a minute ago." Giving him an innocent look, Lorelai reached over and shut off the television. The room became engulfed in darkness save the faint glow given off from the porch light through the windows. She grinned up at his shadowed face, intending to make another comment about the activities that had occupied past few hours, causing him to not care about the movie ending when he spoke up.

"You're impossible." She grinned when she noticed the red tint coloring his cheeks.

"Is that a blush I detect? Is my Lukie blushing?" He was just way too much fun to tease.

"Your Luke?" His tone was gentle and Lorelai tipped her head up so she could see his eyes. Thinking for a second, she answered.

"That's what I said." When he didn't respond, Lorelai snuggled back into his arms, laying her head on his chest. "I told Rory today."

"Really?" Luke sounded surprised.

"Why does that surprise you? I tell her everything."

"Yeah... I just didn't know if we were telling people yet." His voice was thoughtful and questioning and Lorelai smiled at the sound. Their first problem as a couple. Or not problem, persay, but the first decision that they were going to make together.

It felt good.

"I don't see why we have to tell anyone anything. They can just figure it out on their own." She threw the thought out and felt Luke's head nodding in agreement.

"Sounds good to me." They sat in silence for a few seconds before Luke shifted nervously and asked, "What else did you talk about?"

"Not much... you, her flight, purple people eaters, you know... the norm."

"Nothing else about Tristan?" Luke's voice was guarded, and Lorelai felt the need to roll her eyes.

"You do know that subtly is not one of your greatest talents, right?"

"What?" As innocent as his voice sounded, Lorelai could hear the constrained edge in it. She reached over to turn on the lamp next to her as she spoke.

"If you want to ask what's going on with the two of them, then just do it." Lorelai sat up and faced him, a rare look of sincerity in her eyes. "I know you're worried about Jess."

Luke shifted uncomfortably, avoiding eye contact with her.

"It's not that I'm worried. I... well, he'll... I just want to know what's going on there." The thoughtful, quiet moment was gone as Luke returned to his usual demanding self, bellowing out his frustrations.

"Believe me, we all do. I've been living in the dark over that for what? A month now?" Lorelai shrugged her shoulders at his impatience. "Me and my "I Love Zack Morris" glow-in-the-dark band-aids..." Her voice trailed off as she realized the joke wasn't loosening the mood at all.

"So you don't know anything?"

"All I can tell you is that I don't think even Rory knows what's going on between her and Jess. They were both just... here, you know?" She cocked her head as the man sitting across from her nodded sullenly.

"...and now that they're not..." His voice trailed off as he realized the precariousness of it all.

"Yup." With a firm nod of the head, Lorelai began climbing back towards her position on top of him. "Did I tell you how incredibly sexy you look wearing my lipstick?"

Giving up a tiny smile, Luke allowed himself to be pushed back down into a laying position, but pulled his head back a second before their lips touched. "One more thing... did you just admit to owning Saved by the Bell band-aids?"

"It was Zack Morris, and... uh... they're Rory's." Lorelai threw out the shaky lie, knowing all too well that he wasn't buying a bit of it. "And if you ever mention them again, I will be forced to hurt you in ways you've never imagined."

"Then- " Lorelai never actually knew what it was that had been about to come out of his mouth. She was too busy finding other uses for his lips.

* * * * *

"I cannot believe you said that." Rory was laughing harder than she had in months as she unlocked the door to Tristan's- no, their apartment. "Did you see the look on his face?"

"I thought he was going to cry." Tristan was laughing just as hard as Rory as he entered the room and collapsed onto the couch. Even Paris was beginning to smile a little bit.

"He deserved it."

"Paris, I'm sorry to say, but I don't think any scientist deserves to have their award winning theory torn to shreds in the hallway in front of their wife and kids by a seventeen year old." Rory shook her head in awe at Paris' gall. Only that girl would have the nerve to insult someone with the level of vehemence she'd just seen expressed in the hallway, and then seem undaunted by it.

"It was all true." Paris continued to act clueless as to the source of their amazement.

Trying to explain it to her, Rory attempted a straight face. "That's really not the point."

Looking unconcerned, Paris matter-of-factly defended herself. "But, he was rude to me."

"All he did was ask you to move out of the way because they were in a hurry." Tristan took his turn at persuading Paris that her actions were uncalled for.

"It was rude." Obviously there was no convincing this girl. Rory just smiled and shrugged her shoulders, all the stress of the last few days ease out of her body. Perching herself so she was half-sitting, half-leaning on the arm of the couch, she smiled at her companions. This afternoon had been just what she needed: different. A new city with two people that she was just getting to know. The three of them had managed to have more fun exploring the lobby of the hotel than she'd had all spring in Star's Hollow.

"So... what should we do now?" Paris' voice snapped Rory back to reality just in time to see Tristan push her backwards onto the sofa, laughing as he took the seat by her head.

Deciding to ignore the tingling on her shoulder where his fingertips had touched her skin, Rory turned her attention to Paris. "I don't know. It's still pretty early."

"Well... we could always get started looking through our orientation packets. After all, we are supposed to be familiar with pages..." The girl trailed off as she noticed the sudden movement from the boy on the sofa.

"I don't know about the two of you, but I am going to enjoy my night." Tristan pulled a bottle out of the front pocket of his jacket, holding it up for the two of them to see.

"I thought you'd gotten that out of your system last night." Rory glanced suggestively at the minibar. Even though it was shut, she knew that everyone in the room was aware of the fact that it was empty. Tristan smiled slightly.

"That was different. Minibar alcohol is just alcohol. This," Tristan paused to tap the bottle, "is liquor. Vintage 1974 Cabernet. So what do you say? A toast to our first night here?"

"I'd like to remind you it's not our first night here. This is our second night in Chicago." Paris was being extremely curt as she glanced uncomfortably at Rory, who appeared once again lost in thought.

"Now Paris, I meant our first night here, in this apartment, our first night as roommates." Smiling widely, Tristan set the bottle on the coffee table. "Now, don't you think that's something to celebrate?"

"More like something to throw myself in front of a bus over."

"That hurts, it really does." Turning to Rory, Tristan smiled seductively. "Don't tell me you feel the same way?"

"You mean, do I feel like running out in front of a bus? No." Tristan smiled victoriously and draped an arm over her shoulder, causing Rory to groan in frustration. "...Not yet, but why don't you check back in a few hours? I may change my mind."

Feigning hurt, Tristan removed his arm and walked towards the kitchen. Returning the smile to let him know she was only joking, Rory leaned back on the couch as she watched him. Tristan was already getting the glasses out of the cupboard, rinsing them under the water. Sauntering back over, he set the glasses down on the coffee table next to the bottle and began pouring. After one glass was full, he looked up at Rory with an inquisitive stare. "Shall we?"

This was it. Rory looked over towards Paris, who was shaking her head furiously.

"It depends, do you want a glass?" Rory spoke the words quietly as she picked up the one he'd already poured.

"Rory!?" Paris was looking at her, shocked. "What do you think you're doing?"

"What does it look like, Paris?"

"It looks like you're about to participate in illegal activity with this miscreant." Paris pointed an accusing finger at Tristan.

"Now Paris.." Tristan began, but Rory cut him off.

"No, I think it looks like I am taking full advantage of this summer. I think it looks like I am finally growing up and experiencing something beyond my small life in Star's Hollow. And I think it looks like you want to join me, but are just too afraid of what everyone will say." Rory stared defiantly at Paris, whose face broke into a smile.

"Are you saying I'm scared?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying." Rory grinned back as Paris willingly took the bait she'd offered.

"Now you realize I have to join you just to prove you wrong."

"It's your call." The girls exchanged a small smile of understanding while Tristan gazed on, amused at the whole situation. Smiling lightly, he finished pouring the last glass and watched as Paris took it in her hands.

Tristan lifted his own in the air and raised his eyebrows. "To change?"

"And freedom." Rory added, a slight blush tinging her cheeks. She knew that both inhabitants in the room knew her reason for adding that part. After a year of Dean and Jess, she was happy to be on her own again.

"And peer pressure." Paris frowned grumpily at the pair as they gave disapproving looks towards her toast. "Fine, fine, fine. Here is to the start of something we'll never forget." Rory and Tristan nodded in agreement with Paris, and the three proceeded to raise their glasses to their lips, and let the dark liquid slip down their throats.

Rory smiled through her glass as sweet taste of the wine invaded her mouth. This was definitely the beginning of something.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ a/n - i know it's extremely unRorylike, but the entire story is about growing up and changing and all that stuff. anyways, let me know what you thought... meaning REVIEW!!! (please)