Disclaimer: I don't own the series Gilmore Girls or the original characters. All I own is my imagination and the plot.

A/N: Well, I won't say anything except that this is on the really short side, but it's supposed to be and I haven't updated this story in about two weeks, I think so I figured that I could at least update what I had worked on. Thanks to Alexia for betaing and please read the A/N at the bottom on your way out. Thanks :-)

Borderline

Rory leaned back against one of the many lockers, specific only because of its position. She wore a smile that reached up to her eyes, the pain masked; for the moment, she couldn't be more happy, satisfied with forgetfulness and the piece of normal that came with it. She threw a sideways glance at the locker beside her. ''Hey'', she greeted, watching as a hand slid across the blue surface and push it aside, revealing a head of messy blond locks and a pair of blue eyes that stood amazed as they looked at her. He was taken back by surprise for the first couple of seconds as he quickly gave her a once-over. When he saw the gentle spark in her eyes, he too smiled, though carefully at first in his unsurety. ''Morning, princess.''

A shudder passed through her as unexpected and sudden as a breeze, rattling her senses, moving her as she was lost in confusion. The soft inflection of his voice strummed a chord within, the feeling weakening her knees, not understanding why she had so much trouble keeping her balance when she had managed to keep it all this time.

''Are you okay?'' Tristan asked, taking the sudden silence as a sign of doubt. ''You know, after last night?'' He eyed her closely as she nodded, her smile wavering, rippling with memories. ''I'm fine,'' she assured him. ''I think I needed my mom to find out; I need someone to deal with this with, talk to, you know?''

''I bet she's angry at me for...'' He bit his lip, unable to finish his sentence. He briefly ran across her eyes with his own. ''I would be.''

Rory averted her eyes, unable to deal with the weight of his guilt right now; she still had to work through a lot herself. ''She's more than angry, leaning towards furious, actually, but I think she partially understood your reasoning of doing what you did and my reasoning of why I decided to forgive you.''

Tristan ran his tongue across his lips, wondering if it would get rid of the dryness in his mouth; he didn't care for the taste that came with it too much. His fingers nervously started to tap against his locker, stopping only when he pulled back his hand. ''Why did you forgive me?''

She looked at him, her eyes kind, as kind as he knew them, something that made him hold back a sigh of relief, one he had been holding ever since he had gotten himself into this mess.

''Because I've known you for a long time,'' she began, her tone gentle, ''and in all of that time, you have never done anything to intentionally hurt me...so I believe that I could give you a second chance.'' A small smile appeared on her face as her eyes wandered off. ''You have always been protective of me, doing whatever you thought was right to do so.'' Her eyes found his again, adding to the intensity and the tainted honesty of the words that were still to come. ''I know you, Tris.''

''Or at least you used to,'' he murmured, the words sounding too harsh, too real to be said aloud. His eyes lowered in shame and her eyes were cast down as well as they settled themselves into a silence that felt foreign, almost uncomfortable.

Tristan went back to his locker, keeping his gaze fixed on the mess in front of him so he wouldn't see the pictures he had used to decorate his locker with - pictures of her, of them, although in his mind, he had already cast his eyes upon them. There was one of her on her sixteenth birthday, wearing a dress in a shade of pink that reminded him of cotton candy even now. There was a picture of her sitting on the couch, knees pulled up to her chest as she balanced a pint of ice-cream (her favorite flavor, Berry Cherry) on them, proudly showing off her Snoopy pajamas. Another was of the two of them in her driveway where he was leaning against his car, smiling as he looked over at Rory who had stretched herself out on the hood. There were so many memories and so much guilt and regret. He sighed, causing her to look up, the pain in her eyes matching his. Only their colors clashed; the shade of his being darker, the emotion in it deeper. She saw how his gaze slipped and found the pictures.

''Tristan,'' she started, waiting for him to look at her, ''what did you do with the pictures?''

She held her breath.

''I took them off immediately after you...after you left the room and I burnt them. I swear that all that's left are ashes.''

''Good,'' she whispered, looking down at her hands. ''I should get to class.''

''Do you want me to come with you?'' he offered. ''Protect you from...''

''I think you've done enough of that,'' she cut in, her voice sharp with bitterness, although she regretted saying what she had even before the last syllable had left her mouth. ''Tris,'' she said. ''I'm...''

''No,'' he said while shaking his head, pretending not be hurt by her words, though he was. ''You should be mad; I deserve it.''

''So does Matt,'' she remarked, sighing as she looked at him once more. ''It's not only your fault, you know? And it's not fair that people see it that way, that I see it that way.''

''You deserve to see it like that,'' Tristan said, smiling sadly as he reached out his hand to wipe a strand of hair away from her face, only tucking it behind her ear because touching her would keep him from going over to Matt right now, knowing that she was trying her best to stay by his side was keeping him sane. ''I'm used to being the bad guy,'' he commenced, gingerly running his fingers down the side of her face before pulling them back, ''but it's different, harder, since it's you,'' he openly confessed.

A faint smile pulled at the corners of her eyes. ''I should go.''

He nodded.

''I'll see you later,'' was all she said before starting off in the direction of her first class.

Tristan waited for the bell to ring.

REVIEW! Please? :-) So, short huh? :-) I just thought that this scene should stand on its own, but I can see how you might find it short, despite that I am still curious to your opinion. I haven't done my best on this, I think 'cause I had only a couple of hours to work on it since I wanted to at least update something so... My next chapter will be longer, without a doubt and probably better...maybe?...I don't know. Thanks anyway for taking a minute to read this. :-)