Lorelai snapped one last picture of them. They were amazingly pretty. Both of them. Rory's dress fit her like a glove, and the ice blue threading popped her eyes. Her hair had cooperated and was up in a loose side bun. And Tristan's navy suit did indeed match her dress. Comically, Tristan's ice blue tie popped his eyes. They belonged in a magazine spread.

Finally, she relented, "Okay, kiddos. Off you go. Have fun." She hugged Rory. "Be safe."

Rory waved as she climbed into Tristan's Range Rover. "You look hot, Dugrey. Like really hot." She used to mock him for his hotness, she mused. But he was, outrageously so. And knowing him, the real him and not the cocky ass, and loving him, only made him hotter.

He laughed and shook his head. "I'm going to get lost in the shuffle when people see you, Mary. You're beautiful. Like really beautiful." It was true. Looking at her made his heart hurt sometimes, his chest got tight and he had trouble breathing. He'd tried to explain it to his dad the other day, but his dad had never been in love, and Tristan couldn't find the right words to describe it.

"I feel like I should warn you." He looked over at her as he drove. "I'm a terrible dancer."

"How is that possible?"

"Don't know," she shrugged. "I just am. Can't relax into it."

He grinned at her and took her hand. "You've never danced with me. We're going to change that tonight." She squeezed his hand and told him he was full of himself. Really, though, she'd happily stay wrapped up in him all night to practice.

Lorelai sent Ben a couple of pictures. "Took some with the camera too. Will send copies with Rory next week."

He texted back fast. "Thanks. They look great."

"They really do. We made pretty kids." Then, "Well, separately we made pretty kids. You know what I meant."

"It'd be a real problem if we made them. Did you eat yet?"

"Rory and I ate at 4 before dance prep began. I'm ready to eat again. Meet somewhere halfway?"

He named a place.

"I'm in jeans - do I have to change?"

"No."

"Can I wear my penis shirt?"

"No."

"Mean."

"Save it for Thanksgiving."

"Did I tune out at dinner last week? Are we having Thanksgiving together?"

"No - kids doing double duty."

"Suckers - on my way."

"Me too."

She was surprised to walk into a pub-like restaurant. A nice mix between casual and swanky. "Dugrey," she told the hostess.

"Color me surprised," she told him when she was led to his table.

He looked up at her, studying her in jeans and t-shirt. "What?"

"This doesn't look stuffy at all."

"I'm flattered."

"Rory and I ate at a place called Al's Pancake House today, so this is a step up."

"And?"

She took a sip of the water in front of her. "Al doesn't sell pancakes. It's Italian. The manicotti is blue."

"You lead an interesting life."

She snorted. "Yeah, I'm sure. Coming from the guy who spent the last two decades traveling the world."

"For work. Traveling for work. It's not what you're picturing, believe me."

"Hmm."

"And, until two years ago, I was married. Technically."

Interested, she tilted her head. "What does technically mean?"

"We were done long ag but didn't get divorced until two years ago. But married is married, so..."

"And since then?"

"What?"

"Have you dated? Found your long-lost love?"

"I've been out a few times."

She wrinkled her nose. "I thought being a billionaire was supposed to be fun. It doesn't sound so fun."

He laughed. "I'm not a billionaire. Maybe they have more fun."

"So, I guess you should work harder, to become a billionaire, to test that theory out. How old are you?"

He grimaced. "40."

"Okay, so not a billionaire AND old? No wonder you can't hook up with anyone."

He grinned.

"What about you? Boyfriend?"

"Nope. I've dated some." She thought of Jason, Max.

"You call that fun?"

"Touche, Dugrey. Oooh - that rhymed! Kind of."

"You've got a reputation for being a rebel."

"Yeah, the knocked up at 16 and runaway thing will do that."

"Tell me."

"About how I got knocked up?"

"I can piece that together." She laughed and paused when the waitress came over to take their order.

"Yeah, so Chris and I were dating, as sixteen year old kids date. We escaped one of my parents' interminable parties one night, onto the balcony of my bedroom, and apparently used a faulty condom. I freaked when I realized I was pregnant. Chris did too. I wasn't sure what to do. So I waited almost three months before I told my parents. That confession resulted in a lot of yelling at my house and our parents getting together and planning our wedding. Chris was willing to do whatever I wanted. I didn't want to get married. I fought it, delayed as best I could, and finally, when I was about seven months pregnant and the parents were getting restless, I took off. Packed up some clothes, took as much money as I could get my hands on around the house, which was only a couple hundred bucks, and hopped on a bus. It was scary, so I didn't make it far. I made it to Stars Hollow. I met a woman - Mia - in town that first day. She offered me a job cleaning at her inn and a place to stay. She gave me a room in the inn and, a few days later, a little tiny cottage." She laughed. "Cottage is a very generous term. It was actually an old potting shed. But I cleaned it out, got some basics, a bed, some sheets. I told my parents where I was. That ended badly but they offered to help. I was too stubborn to accept it. I worked until Rory came. I wasn't even seventeen when she was born. And then I worked, carting her around. We wouldn't have made it without Mia. I cleaned for a year or two, and then Mia promoted me. Eventually, when Rory was about six, Mia retired and turned the inn over to me to run. I was good at it. A year or so after that, I'd saved enough to buy our house. So that's where we are now. We saw Christopher every once in a while, but he had become estranged from his family and he was struggling. We saw my parents on holidays. The people in Stars Hollow became our family. I worked at the inn until it burned down about two years ago. It was the impetus I needed, me and my best friend Sookie, to open our own inn. We'd been talking about it for years. So we dumped everything we had, and some we didn't, into the Dragonfly. It's done and it's amazing. But, when we were struggling to get it renovated, because everything - and I mean every damn thing - goes over budget, Rory got into Chilton. And Chilton wanted a huge amount of money upfront. They wouldn't let me make payments. I couldn't get it done. And Rory needed to go. She's too smart; she needed her shot. So, finally, I had to swallow my pride, and go ask my parents for the tuition. They agreed, but hooked us into our Friday night dinners. They pay for Chilton and we go to dinner every Friday night. Now, I've got a little breathing room, and could probably - well maybe - swing Chilton, but my parents, we've gotten a little better at being together, and Rory enjoys it. So, here we are."

He stared at her, mesmerized. "That's incredible. Even though you gave me facts and glossed over how hard - nearly impossible - that all must have been. You deserve your reputation. And I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For telling you to pull it together the other night. Clearly, you can pull it together. All on your own."

"I've had a lot of help along the way. I'm not kidding about our town. You need help, you get help."

They ate and, as she was finishing hers up, she pointed at him. "Okay, you're up. Spill. And more than, I was married until two years ago."

"Mine sounds weak compared to yours."

"Dugrey."

"Okay. I was Tristan in high school. Tristan, minus Rory. Dad running the family company, mom off doing other things, and me running wild. Got through high school, got into Yale, had a lot of fun at Yale. My parents laid down the law in my senior year. It was time to grow up. I was given an internship at DG and introduced to prospective wives. I met Carolyn at some Hartford party. Our parents introduced us. Her family was old Hartford - banking. She went to Brown. She was pretty - Tristan has her blonde hair." Lorelai smiled. "She was the only one of the women my parents paraded in front of me that I could stand to be around for more than five minutes. So we dated. And when I graduated, I didn't propose like everyone expected. I don't think Carolyn really cared, but our parents did. By August, I was at DG and our families were relentless about marriage. We were young and dumb, so we gave in. I proposed, we got married a few months later, and Tristan was born not long after that. I'm not sure we were ever in the same place again long enough to have another kid. I worked long hours, was gone on business trips for weeks on end. Carolyn wasn't a giant fan of motherhood, so we got a nanny. I could hardly complain since I wasn't home to help. I was moving up the ranks. When Tristan hit middle school, we got Grace. Things leveled out some with Grace. She's hung in there for Tristan more than any of us. My dad retired around the time Tristan hit high school, so I took over. And was home even less than before. Carolyn asked for a divorce about that time too. I didn't even blink. I agreed and it was done in a matter of weeks. She wanted out, and she left. Tristan went a little wild, nothing major, culminating with the night we met. And here we are."

"Those are facts, too. Do you miss her?"

"No. I didn't really know her."

"Did you love her?"

"No. Isn't that awful?"

"No."

"Did you love Chris?"

"No. I thought I did back then, but, looking back, I know I didn't."

"Which is why you question Tristan and Rory. You think they're caught in the moment."

"Maybe."

"Not maybe."

"Okay. I did. Now I'm not sure. Is this a date?"

"Do you want it to be a date?"

"I'm not sure."

"When do you think you might know?"

"You live in the world I ran away from."

"I do."

"You run a big company and have a lot of responsibility."

"I do."

"You're probably on some list for Hartford's most eligible bachelors."

"No idea."

"My parents like you."

"Okay."

"Our kids are dating."

"They are. Are all of these things deal breakers for going on a date?"

"They might be. I'm not sure."

"Back to my earlier question, when do you think you might know?"

"I'll let you know when I know."

He opened his mouth to talk but was interrupted when both of their phones beeped at the same time. "Ha, jinx," Lorelai said. He dug in his pocket, and she dug in her purse. "Oh my God!"

Rory sent the picture to a group text with her, Tristan, Lorelai, and Ben. She couldn't help but laugh at the ridiculousness of it. Tristan being Homecoming King. Sure, that was a definite possibility. A probability, even. Her being Homecoming Queen. Not even in the realm of possibilities. Yet, they'd been crowned and photographed, and had danced the traditional King and Queen dance.

"It's a good thing we practiced earlier," he'd teased her, as they danced in the center of a room full of people watching them. He was right, she'd relaxed into him, one arm around his neck playing with his hair, and her other hand resting on his chest, diamonds and sapphires shooting sparks around them. She'd smiled at him and admitted, "I hadn't given the whole King and Queen thing any thought, mostly because I didn't care about it, but I wouldn't have liked watching someone else being crowned your Queen. Watching someone else dance with you. So I'm glad it's me." He'd brought his hand up to her face as they danced, wholly focused on her, "It's always going to be you, Rory." He kissed her slowly as the song ended. There'd been silence, until the DJ broke it, congratulating the King and Queen who, as he said much to the crowd's amusement, "really seemed to like each other." He pumped out some fast music and the Chilton crowd flooded the dance floor.

Rory wouldn't have been surprised at some of the chatter during their official dance. But she would have been surprised at the support she got from some unlikely sources. Bowman and Duncan stood with their dates, alongside of Jason and his date Summer. Jason, as Rory learned firsthand, was looking to score at Homecoming, which was probably why he asked one of the girls known to be a sure thing. Unfortunately for Jason, Summer was seething watching Tristan and Rory and doing little to hide it. Finally, she came out and said it, "That should be me. Not some nerd who always has her face in a book." Duncan rolled his eyes, "Well, there was a vote. She won." Summer glared at him, "Yeah, because she's his flavor of the week." Bowman looked at her, "When's the last time you saw him with another girl? Because it's been all Rory, all the time for a while now." Now it was Summer rolling her eyes, "Probably because the prude won't let him close the deal so he's stuck." Now Bowman was laughing, "I think Tristan is pretty happy right now," he said, nodding towards the couple on the dance floor, "but I know it's hard to see with all the bling on her hand blinding us. That, Summer, is official bling, not flavor of the week bling. And that," he told her pointing as Tristan moved his hand to Rory's face and leaned down to kiss her, "is Rory winning more than Homecoming Queen."

Even now, an hour after their coronation, Rory was still a little shocked and waited for her mom's response to the text and picture she'd just sent. Tristan told her, "Your mom is going to love this. Think how much she's going to mock us."

Rory smiled, "Yeah. This will be hours of entertainment for her." She glanced down at her phone when it beeped back. Her mom. "This is a dream come true! Go boss someone around, Queenie!" His dad. "They must have heard about the straight As." Then, a selfie of Ben and Lorelai together.

"Um, Tristan. Why are our parents together?" She showed him.

He looked at it. "Not sure. Little weird."

"They're cute together. They look like an older version of us. That's probably what we'll look like in 20 years."

He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her closer to him. "I'll take it." He was just about to lean down and kiss her when he saw movement behind her. "Hey guys."

Rory turned around and saw Alex and a girl she assumed was Sarah. "Hi Alex."

Alex smiled nervously. "Hey, so this is Sarah. Sarah, this is Rory and Tristan." Alex and Sarah congratulated them on their big victory. Rory snorted. "Dugrey here should be King, it suits his oversized ego. I'm surprised more than five people here know who I am." Sarah smiled shyly and told them she didn't know many people either. They talked for a few minutes, Rory liking Sarah, before they were joined by some of their friends. Rory introduced Sarah to Paris, Louise, and Madeline. And the guys all gave Alex a knowing slap on the back.

Sarah excused herself to go to the restroom. Alex turned to Tristan and Rory. "Where the hell am I going to take her after this ends? I've been racking my brain for something that sounds innocent. All I can think of is dessert. I've never had to put this much thought into dating."

Rory smiled at him. "Dessert is perfect. Do that." She looked at Tristan. "Come on, Dugrey. I know you've got skills. Got any advice?"

He stared at her. "Fine." He looked at Alex. "Hold her hand on the way out of here. Talk to her at the restaurant. Listen. Don't make any other move. Kiss her before you get back in the car to drive her home." He grimaced. "Easy kiss, not eat her alive kiss. Maybe again when you drop her off, if first one went okay. Call her tomorrow."

Alex and Rory stared at him. Finally, Rory said, "Wow, that's quite a strategy." Alex smiled, "Yeah, okay. And if it fails, I can blame the King." He bounced back, grinning, when Tristan went to smack him.

The seniors were bailing on the dance, so Tristan and Rory said good night to Alex and Sarah. Rory hugged them both, and Tristan hugged Sarah and fist bumped Alex. Rory mouthed good luck to Alex as Tristan pulled her away.

As they were all walking out, Rory asked around, "Is there going to be food where we're going? I'm starving." Tristan shook his head, "Of course you are. We can get room service."