"Let the games begin," Rory whispered to Tristan as they stepped off the plane. They were back in LA, and that meant cameras everywhere. They had to be on their game every time they left the house, because just about every third person was a member of the paparazzi or trying to be.

Tristan carried his carry on in one hand and wrapped his free arm protectively around Rory's shoulder, and they headed towards baggage claim.

"Did you reserve a car?" Rory asked quietly, keeping a happy grin on her face.

"Actually my car is in the parking garage," he admitted.

Rory sighed without losing her smile. "This is going to be so much fun getting home," she said.

Tristan also held a smile in place as he replied. "I didn't know I was going to come home married Sweetheart. No one bothers me anymore. I can drive around without a mob."

As they reached the baggage carousel there was a familiar gaggle of paps. They weren't waiting for her and Tristan specifically, no one knew their flight info, but they hung out at arrivals, waiting to see who came in.

"Rory! Tristan! Over here!" one of the guys called.

"Ignore it," Tristan said through his smile, as though Rory had never dealt with them before.

They continued to try and get attention with catcalls and whistles, anything for a reaction, but Rory and Tristan remained focused on the carousel that had just come to life.

Rory's bag was one of the first ones to come down, so Tristan handed Rory his carry on and went to retrieve the bag.

"Rory! Over here!" one of the guys shouted loudly. She ignored it until she felt a hand on her arm, trying to physically turn her attention.

"Let go of me," she said firmly, trying to wrench her arm from the grip.

It wasn't a tight grip, but it wasn't one that was going to be given up easily either. "Come on, just one question!" he said.

Rory shook her head, and tried again to free her arm.

Tristan came back towards them with a big smile on his face and her bag in his hand. When he saw the man gripping her arm, his face contorted into rage. "Get your hand off my wife!" he yelled. The man dropped Rory's arm like it was hot, but that didn't stop Tristan from continuing forward in a rage. "How dare you!" he shouted at the group of press, then he turned his attention to Rory. "Are you okay?" he asked with more gentleness that Rory would imagine him capable of.

"I'm fine," she replied quietly. "He was just trying to get my attention."

Flashes had exploded all around them, as the cameras captured Tristan in a rage. "Tristan! Tristan! When did you and Rory start seeing each other?" They hoped provoking anger would get him to talk.

He ignored the cameras and pulled out the handle on Rory's suitcase to pull it behind him. "Could you please grab my bag?" he asked.

"You're not going to carry both of them?" Rory asked, loudly enough for the paps to hear, batting her eyelashes at him.

He knew where she was going with this. "If I'm carrying both bags, how can I make sure I keep an arm around you?" he teased back, lightening the mood considerably.

"Oh all right," she conceded. She towed his carry on, and he towed her giant suitcase. All the while he managed to keep a protective arm around her shoulder. They headed for the car, with the cameras in tow.

After Tristan kicked her suitcase for the fourth time because of his long legs, she stopped walking.

"What?" he asked. She set down his case and reached for her own. "You want to trade?"

She smiled at him. "No, I just want to make it so you stop kicking my suitcase. I happen to like this one." She clicked the tiny button on the top of the handle causing it to swivel in an ergonomic manner, allowing it to be dragged a few inches further behind him. "There."

She picked up his bag, and wrapped her free arm around his waist so he could resume his protective position. "Now where did you park?"

"D-7. The elevator is on the right," he said as he led her towards the car.

HOMH-HOMH-HOMH

By the time they reached the car, there was one lone member of the press following them. Rory had her suspicions that the rest were just a phone call away.

"Here it is," Tristan said as he stopped behind a gray BMW X5 to fish the car keys out of his pocket. He hit the button and the hatch popped open. Rory set the bag she was pulling next to him, and moved around to the passenger's side of the car.

She settled into the seat and waited for Tristan to join her in the car. As she waited she turned her mobile back on and texted her father to let him know she had arrived safely. Finally the driver's door open and Tristan climbed behind the wheel. "This car isn't nearly as flashy as I expected it to be," Rory said with a smile.

"I outgrew the need for flashy cars a long time ago." While Rory had meant to tease him, his response was surprisingly serious. He put the car in gear and reversed out of the spot.

As they wound through the levels of the garage, the paparazzi that had fallen off on the trail through the garage slowly rejoined the caravan. Tristan paid for the parking and merged into traffic heading west.

Rory gripped the door nervously as cars weaved in and out of traffic around them, trying to get pictures, but between the tinted windows and the dark of night there were no pictures to be had. As the traffic lessened slightly, she relaxed a little. "So, did you really just have a bad break up too?" she asked finally. She'd been thinking about it ever since he mentioned it with Jess earlier, but first, after her emotional meltdown, she didn't want to ask, and then later, she didn't want anyone to over hear.

Tristan shrugged. "What break up is ever good?"

"There really is an ex?" Rory was surprised. She half expected that he made the whole thing up for Jess.

He nodded.

"Really?"

"What did you expect Rory?" he snapped. "I'm 33 years old, not 23 years old. I actually have relationships, not merely a string of one night stands."

"I-," she stalled not knowing how to respond.

"Just because I don't live my life in the press doesn't mean I don't have a life. So yes, to answer your question, I did just break up with some one. It wasn't a particularly harsh break up, but it wasn't exactly a barrel of laughs either."

She reached out to touch his arm and he snapped again. "No one can see us here, you don't have to pretend to be a caring wife now!"

She pulled her hand back as though he'd actually bitten her. Tears prickled in her eyes. She was surprisingly hurt by his words. Instead of saying anything, she focused on the scenery.

Her focus on the scenery only lasted a few minutes, her curiosity over Tristan's most recent relationship was too hard to overcome. "So why did you break up?"

Tristan sighed deeply and ran a hand through his hair. "Why does it matter?"

"I'm curious," she admitted. "Besides, the whole world knows why Logan and I broke up."

"Why did you and Logan break up?" he asked.

"You know the answer to that Tristan, it's been all over the papers."

He glanced at her, then back to the road. "No actually, I don't. I know you broke up. But really I only look at the pictures. I've worked in this business just as long as you have, which is long enough to know that the stories are crap."

Rory looked back at him. "I asked you first," she answered childishly. "And frankly, we've spent the last 24 plus hours dealing with my drama, and digging up my past, I think it's time for a little quid pro quo."

They drove in silence for a few miles. Rory waiting for Tristan to answer, and Tristan deciding if he was going to answer her question. Finally, he spoke. "We broke up because she liked that I was famous more than anything else."

"I'm going to need more than that."

"Her name is Danica Marin. I met her on the set of my last project-"

Rory interrupted for clarification, "This World War Two miniseries?"

"No, the project before that."

"Which was?" Rory asked. Tristan glared at her. "What? I don't stalk you on IMDb."

"It was a B-list frat comedy," he finally said. "Anyhow. Danica was an extra, and one day we had a major equipment malfunction and got stuck together for several hours waiting for a repair. We got to talking, and… one thing led to another."

"You slept with her!" Rory exclaimed.

Tristan was startled by her loud exclamation and swerved. "No! Well, eventually yeah, but not then. We dated for two months! Is that what you think of me? That I'm some sort of lothario? You really think I just go from one night stand to one night stand?" He was obviously offended by the notion.

"I, uh, well," she stammered, then got her spirit back. "If I remember correctly, you had a different girl with you every day of filming."

"That was more than ten years ago! I was young, rich, and stupid. You don't think it's possible that I grew up at all?" he shouted.

Rory remained motionless in the passenger seat.

"Speak!" he finally barked, annoyed with her silence.

"Well I went from hating you to married to you over night…" she trailed off.

He let out a growling exhale. "You know what, I don't need this shit. My life was going along just fine before I ran in to you. But for the record, prior to waking up with you, it had been at least two years since I'd had a one night stand!"

"I'm sorry," she mumbled.

"You know, if I were to base all of my opinions on what I know of you from Molly's World, I would bet that you and Logan broke up because you wouldn't put out!"

"How dare you!" she shrieked, enraged with anger. "I was not even 18 when we finished filming that show!"

"I'm not that much older than you are Sweetheart. If you're going to treat me like I'm still a 20 year old kid, then why shouldn't I treat you like you're still a 17 year old priss?"

Rory crossed her arms across her chest and sank back into the passengers seat, thinking about what Tristan had said. He was right. She didn't think he'd changed a bit, and she was refusing to consider any evidence to the contrary. She sighed loudly. "I'm sorry Tristan. You're right. If we're going to make this work, even temporarily, I need to let go of the past."

"Thank you," he said, acknowledging her apology. "And for what it's worth, I know you're not the same priss you were at 17, most of the time." He shot her a small smile.

"So, if it wasn't because you refused to put out, why did you and Logan break up?"

"I don't think we're doing talking about your break up yet," she responded, changing the subject. "What do you mean she liked that you were famous more than anything else?"

He shook his head, but gave in anyhow. "Fine. I'll reopen the wounds and tell you all the sordid details. But don't say I never did anything for you."

Rory chuckled at his blatant martyrdom.

"At first, we just had fun hanging out. We had a lot in common, or so I thought. Difficult families, career struggles, that kind of thing. The first few weeks were really casual; she was laidback and easy going. Whatever I wanted to do, she was up for." He looked at Rory to find her surprisingly engaged in his story. "But then something changed, and she started getting pushy. She didn't want low key anymore; she wanted to go out. Fancy restaurants and trendy night spots. Places where I had to make reservations. Places where she could be seen."

Rory listened intently, having been used a time or two herself, she could understand why he would be bothered.

"Finally," he continued, "it all came to head when she wanted to go to some red carpet premier and I refused."

"And that was it?" Rory asked.

He nodded. "Well basically."

"Basically?" she repeated skeptically.

"You know, the post breakup hangover," he explained, hoping that he could get away without having to actually describe it.

Rory gave him a confused look. "What's that? Binge drinking after a split?"

He shook his head. "No, you know. Where you meet up to talk about something and end up in bed together…"

"Ohhh."

"You've never had that?" Tristan asked, honestly curious.

She shook her head no. "I guess I'm just not that type of girl." Tristan bristled at her words, and she jumped to clarify. "I'm not saying I'm not the type of girl that would sleep with an ex, I'm saying that I'm not the type of girl that guys want to sleep with once they break up with me."

Her words seemed to relax Tristan. Apparently self-deprecating was better than judgmental.

"On that note," he started, "what happened with you and Logan?"

"I wanted to get married. He didn't."

"That's really why you broke up?" Tristan asked.

She nodded. "I loved Logan, but not enough to spend the rest of my life as his girlfriend. I know it's a little cliché, but I actually would like to be a wife and mother someday."

"You're not expecting us to have kids in this sham are you?" Tristan asked, suddenly horror struck. "Because that might be kind of hard with your no sex rule."

Rory laughed. "No. I want to have kids with someone I'm head over heels in love with, because we both want to have kids."

"And that wasn't Logan?" Tristan asked.

"Call me old fashioned, but I want to be a wife before I'm a mother," she told him, and then went on, "I have nothing against people that chose to have kids with their partners, or have kids then get married, or have kids by themselves even, it's just not what I want for me."

Tristan took a moment to take in her words. "I can respect that."

"So how much longer?" she asked, leaning forward in her seat to try and determine where they were.

"About five minutes away. I'm sorry, I don't have a rooster to judge by."

She stuck her tongue out at him and he laughed.

Looking in her side view mirror, she could see that they were still being followed by a few cars. "How long do you think we'll be high interest for the gossip mags?"

"At least until Jess's story is published," Tristan said. "Probably another few weeks after that."

Rory sighed. "I can't wait to have my life back."

"Aren't you used to all of this by now?" Tristan asked.

"I was. When Logan and I were together, our pictures got taken everywhere we went. But there was nothing to it: nothing scandalous to worry about. Gilmore and Huntzberger to grocery shopping. How is that even news worthy? But after we broke up… well you saw the pictures. Everything had some hidden meaning to it. I just can't wait for the trip to the grocery store to just be that. Not a huge deal because I bought tampons or a bottle of wine."

Tristan snorted. "Someone made a big deal of the fact that you bought tampons."

"Yes!" she exclaimed. "Didn't you see the Gilmore grief stricken over miscarriage article?"

"Okay," Tristan finally conceded. "I can see why you want your life back."

He turned the car down a small residential street, and hit a button on the door of the car to open the gate. Once the door opened, he pulled inside the gate just far enough to let the doors close without hitting the car, but not far enough that a member of the caravan could get a car in behind him. As soon as the gate was completely closed, he drove around to the garage, listening to a chorus of annoyed honks behind them.

"Do they really think you're going to let them in?" Rory asked.

"No. But somehow that doesn't make them less annoyed when it doesn't happen."

He pulled into the garage, and they both got out of the car.

"Here we are," he said. "Home sweet home."

AN: Back in LA. Finally. Although they haven't gotten very far yet. For some reason, these two seem to have it out in cars.

I still don't own anything… including BMW or IMBd. (Although there are actors that I stalk on IMDb.)

I hope you're all enjoying the story. Please read and review!

S