"Hello Rory how was your holiday?" Rory didn't answer until she made her way to the couch and sat down.
"I went home and saw Lorelai and my sister." She said, arranging herself on the couch. She missed the look of surprise on the doctor's face.
"Did you talk to her?" Dr. Roberts asked.
"No, but I did write her a letter." She supplied, as the doctor jotted down some items in a notebook.
"Did you feel better after writing the letter?" The doctor asked, not looking up from the notebook.
"Yea I did. It's funny for the first time in six years I feel calm about myself." Rory answered, with a wistful smile.
"In the short time you have been coming here you have made a big difference. Anything you want to talk about today?"
"I went to Stars Hollow this weekend and met my sister." Rory said softly, looking down at her lap.
"Was your mother there?" Dr. Roberts asked, looking up, noticing the change in Rory's voice.
"I saw her when she walked past the diner and when we were going back to Tristan's parent's house." He flipped the notebook page.
"Good…how was it seeing her again?" The doctor pressed on.
"I felt numb all over. One part of me was glad to see her, the other part wanted to rip her eyes out and shove them done his throat." Rory answered, the last part said with a slight growl.
"Dean?" Dr. Roberts asked, clearly interested in Rory's reaction.
"Yea him." She answered bitterly.
"Did you see him too?" The doctor asked, gently.
"No, but Tristan did." Rory breathed out.
She walked inside and saw all the mail that was laid down on the table. Larry was supposed to keep everything nice and neat for them. She was shorting the mail out as Tristan walked into the living room.
"I was about to do that Rory." He said as he sat down beside her.
"I'm not helpless Tristan. When I see Larry I'm going to kill him." Rory gritted out. Tristan laughed at his wife's outburst. Rory and Larry had always had a love-hate friendship. Larry loves to piss her off and Rory hates it.
"I know you're not helpless Rory. I just thought you were going to be gone longer then you were." He touched her cheek and she looked over at him. He could tell something was wrong with her. "You alright?"
(Flashback two months after Derek was arrested,)
Rory was sitting outside reading under a tree and waiting for Tristan to come pick her up. She saw Derek's parents walking towards her. She stood up and they stopped in front of her.
"Do you know what you cost our son?" Derek's father spat out.
"I really don't care." Rory looked back down at her book. Outraged at Rory's lack of respect, he ripped it out of her hands and she stood up.
"You little bitch you ruined his life." He yelled, getting into her face.
"He tried to rape me twice." She yelled back in his face. He stepped towards her and she took two steps back.
"You were probably asking him for it so he could knock you up and live off of him." He bit out, giving her a look of disgust.
"Is there a problem here." They turned around and saw Tristan walking towards them.
"You are a murderer." Derek's dad hissed at him
"You say murder and I say justifiable homicide." He walked past them and put his arm around Rory. "You should be happy that Derek is in jail."
"Why is that?" Derek's mom asked as Tristan grabbed Rory's book from Derek's father's hands.
"He could've been six feet under with his friend. Now why don't the two of you leave Rory here alone and never talk to her again." They looked at Tristan and walked back towards their car.
He looked down at Rory. "You alright?"
(End Flashback,)
"Yea just thinking about Stars Hollow." She said, leaning into his touch.
"You were great Rory, I'm proud of you." She smiled as Tristan walked into the bedroom. "I have to go to the base for a few hours. I'll bring something home to eat with me." He called out.
"Everything alright?" She asked. He walked out with his camo pants, boots, and his dark blue shirt that had his name on it.
"Yea just have to go in for a little bit and talk to command." He leaned down and kissed her before walking out the door.
Lorelai walked into the kitchen and grabbed the coffee pot. After getting her coffee, she walked over and grabbed a cookie.
"So did you see her?" Sookie asked excitedly. She'd missed Rory so much and wanted to know every detail.
"Yea she was at Luke's with Tristan. She gave Amy a book which Amy hasn't put down yet." Lorelai answered sullenly.
"It's a start at least she was around." Sookie walked to the other side of the kitchen. "How did she look?"
"Shorter hair and you could tell she's pregnant." Lorelai said.
"Did he say anything to you?" Sookie asked softly, knowing this was hard on her best friend.
"Just that she had a rough first couple of months…nothing else." Lorelai put the cup down. "Amy walked right up to him and talked to him like she knew him her whole life."
"She doesn't usually do that." Sookie tasted the food and added more salt.
"It took her years just to say hi to Luke. Did I tell you that a friend of there's came up here just to see Luke?" Sookie looked over her shoulder and raised her brow in question, and saw Lorelai nodding her head.
"What is she like?" Sookie asked.
"Seems like a bitch to me." Lorelai bit out, taking another sip of her coffee.
(Flashback the day after Rory left,)
Lorelai knocked on Sookie's door and waited for her to open it. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying all night. Sookie opened the door.
"What's wrong?" Sookie said, moving out of the way to let Lorelai in.
"I made a huge mistake last night." Lorelai blurted out between sobs, as she made her way to the sofa.
"What did you do?" Sookie asked, in a somewhat accusatory tone.
"I slept with Dean." Lorelai whispered, unable to look up at her best friend.
"Lorelai…" Sookie gasped.
"I know! I wish now that I didn't do anything with him!" Lorelai yelled.
"What are you going to tell Rory?" Sookie asked, noticing Lorelai's shoulders shaking, as she sat down beside her.
"She walked in on us." Lorelai revealed, trying to hold back her tears. She buried her head in her hands and cried as Sookie put her arm around her shoulders.
"What did she do?" Sookie pushed, she had to know what happened.
"Called Tristan and took off with him to North Carolina." She let out before another set of sobs overtook her. A few minutes later, there was another knock at the door. Sookie quickly got up to answer it, just in case it might be Rory.
"I'm looking for a Lorelai Gilmore." The young man stated. She looked over at Lorelai, and saw her wipe her eyes, as she made her way to the door.
"I'm Lorelai how did you know where to find me?" She asked, trying to figure out who this man was and what he wanted with her.
"Just asked around." He said as he shrugged. He then held out an envelope to her. Lorelai eyed it warily before taking it out of his hands. He nodded and said, "Consider yourself served, Ms. Gilmore. Have a good day." He then turned and made his way back to his car. Lorelai realized what he had said and quickly took out the documents, and dropped them as soon as she read the first page.
Sookie bent down and picked it up. The document had both Lorelai and Rory's full names. At the top is stated that it was a petition for emancipation. Rory was seeking legal emancipation from Lorelai, her mother, her best friend. Sookie gasped, and looked at Lorelai.
"Are you going to fight this?" Lorelai quickly regained her senses, and grabbed the legal papers from Sookie, then flipped to the last page. Her knees almost buckled when she saw that someone had already signed. She quickly pulled out her cell to talk to that person.
"I don't want to talk to you right now." Chris said angrily into the phone.
"You signed the papers?" She asked, trying to keep from crying again.
"You slept with her boyfriend." He said simply, although she could tell he was very angry. In the background, she heard a car horn.
"Where are you?" She asked as her eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"An hour away from Stars Hollow." He stated calmly, knowing he was anything but. Her eyes quickly widened.
"No Chris you can't come here." She blurted out.
"You ran our daughter out of town and expect me not to come and yell at you." He said, beginning to lose his grip on his calm façade.
"Chris please don't do this." She begged.
"How could you do that to our daughter?" He was yelling over the phone. "How can you stand to look at yourself in the mirror? You lost your daughter over a seventeen year old boy!" He stressed the word 'boy' to her.
"I never meant to hurt her." She whispered, a fresh set of tears, fighting to come out.
"Just sign the damn papers and move on from this." He spat out.
"How did you know?" She asked.
"It's not very often that my daughter is calling me crying so much, that a boy that I have never even met before has to take the phone from her and tell me what is wrong..." He was trying to keep the emotions from coming out. He took a deep breath then continued. "I'll tell you what, you sign the papers and I will turn my car around right now and stay in Boston."
"Okay." She closed the phone, signed the papers then sat down on the floor. Sookie sat down beside her and Lorelai cried on her shoulder.
(End Flashback,)
"Are you just saying that because Luke likes her?" Sookie said accusingly, no longer the bright sweet person that Lorelai always went to. Since that night. Sookie always let Lorelai know when she was wrong. Today was no exception. Lorelai looked away from her friend. "You're a married woman Lorelai. You gave up Rory for him." She pointed out, knowing she'd hit a nerve.
"I'm not into Luke." Lorelai said a bit too quickly.
"You're mad at her because she knows more about Rory then you do." Sookie once again pointed out, not allowing her friend to 'hide' from the truth.
"She has been there for Rory this whole time. When he leaves she's probably the first person that comes over and sees her." Sookie continued.
"You should thank her you know." She said, giving Lorelai a knowing look.
"Why?" Lorelai asked, incredulously.
"She's making sure that he is taking care of her." Sookie said, as if it were obvious.
"She doesn't need to do that. Tristan would never let anything happen to her." Lorelai said softly, looking into her coffee mug.
Rory watched as Tristan and Larry where out in the front yard throwing a football. She got to know Larry over the years and he reminded her of Tristan when he was in high school. Larry would date a woman for a few weeks and then dump her for the next blonde bimbo he saw at a bar. Rory walked outside and Larry threw up his hand in greeting.
"Hi Larry." She said a bit blandly.
"Leigh how's it hanging?" He asked not noticing her sullen demeanor.
"Just like yours." She said cynically.
"Ouch claws are out today. Dude you should've told me that the hormones were acting up today." He said in his usual way. Rory looked over at Tristan who just rubbed his eyes.
"So Larry when do we meet the next bimbo?" She asked with false sweetness.
"I'm going out tonight, so clear next Saturday for her." He said un-phased by her question.
"You know, you could try to meet some nice women." She said, not hiding her disappointment. He looked up at her and pointed his finger, but before he could say anything, she cut him off. "No I will not help you hook up with single mothers of the kids I teach." She said, glaring at him.
"Damn it! What, am I not pretty enough?" He asked, looking at Tristan.
"It's not that Larry, you're an asshole." Tristan stated simply, as he threw the ball back to Larry.
"Thanks sugar coating it, T." He said sarcastically. Rory walked inside as the phone rang.
"Hello." She answered.
"I need to speak to Lt. DuGrey please." Her heart immediately sunk in her chest.
"One second please." She walked outside just as Tristan put Larry in a headlock. "Tristan someone from the base is calling." Both guys stopped and looked up at her. The tears were already coming down her cheeks as Tristan walked up and grabbed the phone.
"Yea." Rory watched as Tristan was pacing around the porch. "Yes sir," He stopped and looked over at Rory. "Yes sir, I understand sir." He sat down on the swing. "Sir I just got back from a six month tour. My wife is pregnant sir." He stood back up and Rory walked into the house.
"Tomorrow. Yes sir." He turned off the phone as Larry nodded to him and walked over to his car. Tristan walked inside and saw Rory was sitting on the couch crying.
"When do you leave again?" She asked between sobs.
"They don't know yet. I have to report tomorrow to the practice range, and to complete some other training." He sat down beside her and she didn't look up at him.
"I can't do this without you. I won't do it without you Tristan." She had tears in her eyes as Tristan touched her cheek.
"I'm not gone yet. If a couple of things work out over there then I might not have to go." He took her chain in his hand and raised it. He wiped the tears off her face. "Just have a little faith that everything is going to work out for the best."
"My faith dies a little, every time you have leave!" She sobbed, looking into his eyes.
"I know and I hate knowing that I hurt you like that Rory. I love you more than anything in my life and knowing that I hurt you just tears me apart." She leaned up and touched her forehead on his and they both closed there eyes.
"I can't do what Carol did when Tony died." She whispered.
(Flashback one year ago,)
Rory was sitting with Carol and some of the other SEALs' wives outside of Carol's house. They would meet every Wednesday for lunch. They were laughing as a black car pulled up the driveway. They all stopped when they saw two men in full dress uniforms walking up to them. Something happened and it wasn't for the best.
"We're looking for a Carol McCoy." One of the officers asked, looking at all the women. Carol put her hand over her mouth as tears were in her eyes. "Can we talk in private ma'am?" he asked.
"What ever you have to say please just say it." She said, trying to sound calm.
"We're sorry to inform you that you're husband, Capt.Anthony McCoy was shot and killed in the line of duty." She was crying as Rory touched her shoulder.
"No! They are on their way home today. This can't have happened." She cried hysterically.
"The United States of America is sorry for your loss. If you need anything please let us know." She just nodded and the two men walked as the wives all gathered around Carol who was crying.
Rory saw Tristan as he walked down the runway with his head down, she could tell that he was taking the news about Tony pretty hard. His arm was in a sling as he walked up to her and just grabbed a hold of her. His head was on her shoulder and she could feel the wetness from the tears that were streaming down his face. She was rubbing his back trying to comfort him.
Carol opened the door and saw Tristan was standing there with tears in his eyes. She wrapped her arms around him and they both were crying now. Rory was watching them and wiped her tears as Tristan pulled back some.
"What happened?" She asked. They walked inside and sat down.
"We were just doing some clean up job when out of no where they started firing at us. Tony pushed this new guy out of the way and got hit in the chest. The next shot that hit him was in his leg." Tristan left most of the details that happened that day. Carol didn't need to know everything. Tristan took a shaky breath. "By the time that I made it to him he was gasping for breath. I picked him up and carried him to the Hum-Vee that we had. His last words were that he loved you and to tell you to keep your promise to him." She nodded and Rory looked over at Carol who had stopped crying. She looked down at Tristan's arm and saw it had a bandage on it.
"What happen to your arm?" Carol asked.
"I caught some fire as I was carrying…" He couldn't say his name as Tristan closed his eyes.
"I want you to speak at the funeral for me Tristan." She stated, taking Tristan by surprise.
"I would be honored to." He whispered.
"Captain McCoy was the best leader that a new soldier, any soldier for that matter, could ask for. He was a fair man. If you messed up, you were held accountable. If you did something great, he'd point out a flaw, just so that you would continue to strive to be better." Tristan was looking at all of his fellow SEALs and other military and government officials. "I just hope that some day I can be the type of soldier that would make the Captain proud. We didn't just lose a soldier, we lost a great person, a great friend, and more importantly a great husband. Carol I'm speaking for everyone here today that you are in our thoughts and prayers every night." Tristan walked over and gave her a hug before sitting down beside Rory.
Rory watched as Carol placed the folded up flag under a glass case on the mantel. She saw the picture of Tony and Tristan was right beside it.
"Carol is there anything that I can do to help?" She asked concerned.
"You and Tristan have done enough Rory thanks." Carol smiled gratefully.
"If you don't mind me asking what promise did you make Tony?" Rory asked, unable to keep it in. Carol smiled.
"I promised that if something were to happen to him that I would only cry for the first two days, and that I would move on and be happy with my life." Rory was looking at her. "Rory we never know what is going to happen to them when they leave for combat. The only thing we can do is pray that they come home alive and well."
(End Flashback,)
Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed the last chapter. The next chapter is a filler chapter nothing major really happens in it. Once again thanks for all the reviews.