Tristan and Rory had dressed after their shared shower and walked out of the bathroom in a fit of giggles. Rory was trying to tickle Tristan as they walked to the stairs, and deciding to give her a taste of her own medicine, he threw her over his shoulder began tickling her.

"Tristan, stop! Put me down," Rory giggled.

"No way, Mare! You're in for it now," Tristan warned her teasingly.

He reached the bottom of the stairs and pinned Rory underneath him on the couch. He held both of her hands in his and used his free hand to tickle her. They were both laughing loudly when they heard someone clearing their voice.

"Mom!" Rory exclaimed, clearly startled by her mom's sudden appearance. "I didn't know you were home."

"Well, I am. I see you two are having fun," Lorelai said with a frown.

Tristan stood up and helped Rory off of the couch.

"We are," Rory replied as she glanced at Tristan. "Mom, I'd like you to meet my boyfriend, Tristan Dugrey. Tristan, my mom, Lorelai."

"It's nice to meet you, Lorelai. Rory talks about you all the time," Tristan said warmly, holding out his hand to her.

Lorelai looked at his hand a moment before hesitantly extending hers to take it. "It's nice to meet you as well, Tristan. I've heard a lot about you."

The three adults stood there awkwardly looking at each other for a minute before Rory finally broke the silence.

"So, we were going to go to Luke's and grab breakfast. You want to come?" Rory asked her mom.

"Sure, that would be great," Lorelai replied.

"Alright, we'll just get our shoes on and then we'll be ready to leave," said Rory.

Rory and Tristan walked into her room and shut the door behind them. Tristan could already see the tension returning to her body.

"Just relax and try to enjoy this time with your mom, Mare. I'm here with you; everything will be okay," Tristan reassured her gently after they'd put their shoes on.

"I know, Tris. My relationship with my mom isn't supposed to feel like this. She would get so furious with my grandma for trying to control her, and now she's doing the same thing to me," Rory whispered.

Tristan pulled her into his arms and wrapped her them around her tightly, holding her until he felt her relax and exhale. He then pulled back just far enough so that they could make eye contact.

"Remember what we said - you make your own decisions now. Okay?"

Rory closed her eyes and relished the feeling of safety and acceptance she felt in his arms, trying to store it up so she could draw from it during the inevitable icy reception they would get from Lorelai Gilmore.

"You're right," Rory agreed. "Alright, let's go get breakfast."

Tristan kissed her on the forehead before releasing her from his arms and taking her hand. He wanted to ensure that she knew that they were in this together, regardless of what Lorelai threw their way. They walked back into the living room to find Lorelai waiting for them.

"You guys ready?" Lorelai asked when she saw them.

"Yep, let's go get breakfast," Rory said with a forced smile. In truth, she was anything but ready for this breakfast. She didn't trust her mom to behave.

They all walked out to the door to head to Luke's together, and Lorelai was the first to break the silence.

"Tristan, I didn't think we were expecting you until closer to lunchtime today; what time did you get here?" she asked.

Tristan cleared his throat and wrapped his arm tightly around Rory's waist.

"I think I arrived sometime around 1:00 this morning. Rory had another nightmare and called me, and I came right away," Tristan answered.

"Rory, you had a nightmare? I thought they'd stopped?" Lorelai asked, obviously concerned about her daughter now.

Tristan looked to Rory and she shrugged sheepishly, so he decided to answer Lorelai.

"This is the third one that she's had since I've been seeing her the last couple of weeks. They seem to coincide with stress."

"Rory?" Lorelai asked.

"He's right; I seem to get them more frequently when I'm stressed or emotional or upset. I never really stopped having them - I just was either with Logan or called him and he would talk me through them," she admitted.

"Why didn't you tell me, kid?" Lorelai asked. "You know I would have been there for you."

"I just...I needed to deal in my own way, Mom. I don't know how to explain it," Rory answered quietly.

"I see," Lorelai said, sadness evident on her face.

They walked the rest of the short distance to the diner in relative silence, and when they entered Luke's every head turned their way instantly. Tristan tensed and leaned over to Rory.

"Why are they all staring at us?" he whispered.

"Probably because we were making out in the town square," Rory replied as she giggled. "Come on, let's sit down and order."

They all walked over to a table in the corner, and at the last minute Lorelai stopped and looked at them.

"I'm just...I'm going to go talk to Luke at the counter for a minute…" Lorelai said awkwardly before she moved and took a seat across from where her husband was standing. Luke looked at her when she sat down.

"Aren't you having breakfast with Rory and Tristan?" he asked in confusion.

"He spent the night in my house, Luke. I kept men out of my house for sixteen years for her sake, and she can't even go twelve hours without him," Lorelai scowled.

"Lorelai, you need to calm down. She had a nightmare and was upset, and he showed up and took care of her. You should be thanking him," Luke insisted.

"You knew about the nightmare? What am I, the last person to know?"

"Yes, I know, but only because I woke up when I heard his car pull in the driveway in the middle of the night. I got up to see what was going on and I heard the two of them. He loves her, Lorelai. It's so obvious," Luke stated firmly.

"What am I supposed to do, Luke?" Lorelai whispered sadly.

"You're supposed to go sit at that table and play nicely," Luke almost demanded.

Lorelai sighed and stood up. She plastered on a small smile and walked to the table that Rory and Tristan were sitting at.

"Sorry about that, guys. I just needed to talk to Luke," she said as she sat down. "So Tristan, tell me about yourself."

"I'm not sure there's a whole lot to tell. I'm an attorney at one of the top firms in Hartford. I wasn't close to my family when I was growing up, but after military school and losing my grandfather we became much closer. I enjoy golfing and most sports. I think I'm responsible for your daughter's new exercise addiction," he chuckled. "And until I reconnected with your beautiful daughter, work and exercise were most of my life. Now I'm enjoying being at home and spending time with Mary."

"That's...wait, did you say Mary? Is this Bible Boy? Evil Tristan? Spawn of Satan?" Lorelai asked with a smile.

Tristan turned red and laughed.

"It appears I might have a few nicknames?" he asked Rory.

"Hey, you earned every single one of them," she teased.

"You have a point there; I wasn't very nice," he admitted.

"And you totally used Biblical insults, Bible Boy!" Lorelai exclaimed.

"Alright, I'll own up to having deserved those nicknames in the past," Tristan said with as Luke walked up to the table.

"Did you guys enjoy your run this morning?" he asked Tristan and Rory.

"Very much. I feel a lot better now," Rory confirmed.

"Good. What can I get everyone?" Luke asked.

"Coffee, chocolate chip pancakes, eggs and bacon for me," Lorelai ordered.

"I'll have water and a veggie omelette," replied Rory.

"I'll have the same," said Tristan.

Luke pointed to Tristan and smiled. "You need to stick around; you're a good influence on her."

He walked away to get their drinks and turn in their orders and Lorelai turned to her daughter.

"I'm sorry, did you just order something with veggies?" Lorelai asked in mock frustration.

"Yeah, I just don't eat as many sweets anymore. It's all his fault," she replied as she poked Tristan in the side.

"I'm not so sure you're a good influence, Bible Boy," Lorelai teased.

Rory just sighed in gratitude that things seemed to be going okay for the moment.