A/N: I would like to say a HUGE thank you to the amazing Linda Prosser for all of her work on this story. She's come up with most of the story line, keeps me organized, gives me feedback and puts up with my ADD tendencies, and cracks the whip when I'm not productive enough. I literally could not do this without her.
And as always, Ashley Wheeler rocks my world with her ninja proofreading skills. I can't get any errors past her, thankfully!
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Tristan looked around Rory's bedroom to gauge their progress. They'd packed all of her clothes and personal items, but packing her books had turned out to be quite the task.
"Geez, Mare. I knew you always had a couple of books with you in highschool, but I never realized that you were this much of a book hoarder," Tristan teased as he closed up yet another box of books. "I'm not sure there's room for you and all of your books in the pool house."
Rory looked up at Tristan in mock outrage and shook her head.
"Tell me you didn't just go there, Bible Boy. I love you, but don't ask me to choose between you and my books," Rory smirked.
"Hey, I'm smart enough to know better than to ask you to make that choice - I'd lose out for sure," Tristan chuckled.
The two couples descended into laughter and continued packing up the remaining boxes of Rory's books so that Jess and Tristan could finish loading them all in their vehicles for the trip to Hartford. After the last box was packed, Rory stopped to look around her now-empty room.
"Wow. It feels so surreal - even though I haven't lived here full-time for a while, I've never seen it this empty. I've always just traveled with what I needed, and this was my home base for everything else," Rory said quietly.
Tristan walked over and wrapped his arms around her, Jess and Rebecca slipped out of the room to give them some privacy.
"You still okay with all of these changes, babe? I know it's a lot," Tristan said.
Rory nodded and looked up at him.
"Yeah, I'm good. I'm completely sure about what I'm doing," Rory insisted.
"Good. I'm really proud of you, you know? You've been working really hard to change those things you didn't like in your life."
"Well, I have the most amazing man by my side, helping me every step of the way," Rory whispered before reaching up to kiss him.
"I'll always be right by you to help you, Mary," Tristan responded quietly.
They stood there, enjoying the feeling of being in each other's arms for a few minutes, before Rory broke the silence again.
"So, Mom asked if we'd get everything for an official Gilmore girls movie night tonight. Is that okay?" Rory asked uncertainly.
"Of course. What do we need to get?"
"Rebecca and I can get snacks, and you and Jess can go to the video rental store and pick out a movie. Then we'll order pizza and Chinese and we'll be set," Rory said happily. It meant a lot to her that Tristan was trying to make the best of things while they were in Stars Hollow, even if Lorelai wasn't making it easy.
"Sounds good. We should probably get going if we're going to be back before Lorelai gets home."
Tristan and Rory walked out to the living room to find Jess and Rebecca, and they all set out through town. On the walk to Doose's, Jess and Rory told Rebecca and Tristan all about Jess's hoodlum days. They regaled them with stories of the chalk outline in front of the market, the mysterious disappearance of Pierpont, Babette's gnome, and the infamous swan beaking. By the time they arrived at Doose's, they were all laughing hysterically over Jess's less-than-upstanding teenaged years in the Hollow.
Rory sent Jess and Tristan into the video rental store to choose a movie for the night while she and Rebecca went into the market for copious amounts of junk food. The girls grabbed a basket and headed straight for the candy and cookie aisle, picking up Red Vines, Mallomars, marshmallows, M&Ms, and anything else that caught their eye. Suddenly they turned the aisle and ran, quite literally, into Dean. Rory jumped at the surprise of seeing him for the first time since he'd broken up with her in her grandparents' driveway - that seemed a lifetime away now.
"Dean, hey," she said quietly when their eyes met.
Dean smiled broadly at her.
"Hey, Rory. It's great to see you. I heard you're back?" he asked.
Rory sighed quietly. At least she would officially be able to say that she definitely wasn't back now since she was moving to Hartford.
"No, actually, I'm not. I..." she trailed off as she noticed Jess and Tristan walking over to them and giggled to herself - this could be funny.
Tristan walked over to Rory and looked at Dean, trying to figure out why he looked so familiar, but was distracted by the aloof greeting that Jess gave.
"Dean," Jess grumbled to Dean.
"Jess," Dean returned through gritted teeth.
They all stood there and looked at each other for a minute and finally Rory broke the silence.
"So, Dean, this is Jess's fiancée, Rebecca. Rebecca, this is Dean," Rory said. She was just about to re-introduce Tristan to Dean when she felt Tristan's body shaking with the laughter he was trying to contain. She looked over at him and elbowed him in the ribs in an attempt to get him to play nicely with his old adversary. Rory slipped her arm around Tristan's waist and laid her head on his shoulder as she tried to keep her composure.
"It's nice to meet you, Rebecca," Dean replied. He turned his attention toward the blonde man next to Rory. "I'm sorry, you look familiar. Have we met?" he asked Tristan.
Tristan laughed out loud at this point and Rory gave him a stern look.
"Dean, this is Tristan. You may remember him from when I went to Chilton," Rory answered sweetly.
"Tristan...wait! The Accountant?" Dean asked incredulously.
"Actually, I'm an attorney," Tristan smirked. "It's nice to see you again, Bag Boy."
Jess began laughing as Dean just scowled at Tristan.
"So, you two, huh?" Dean asked.
Rory just snuggled closer into Tristan's side.
"Yeah, it's great," Rory beamed. "So, what are you doing back in town?"
"We're just visiting my wife's family, and I needed to run out to get diapers," Dean replied, holding out the package of diapers.
"You have kids?" Rory asked.
"Yeah, two and one on the way," Dean said proudly.
"Wow, that's great. Congratulations," Rory replied.
Dean nodded his head and smiled.
"Thanks. So, what about you?" Dean asked. "Married? Children? Are you back in Stars Hollow?"
"God, everyone keeps asking me that. No, I'm not back in Stars Hollow. I stayed with my mom and Luke for a few months, but I'm actually moving to Hartford this weekend. I start a new job at Yale soon," Rory said proudly.
Tristan smiled at her and kissed the top of her head.
"And not yet," he added cryptically. Everyone looked at him in confusion.
"Not yet what?" Rory asked.
"You're not married yet, nor do you have children yet," Tristan finished.
Rory blushed and smiled back at him.
"Yet, huh, Bible Boy?" she asked with raised eyebrows.
"Yet," he confirmed.
Dean cleared his throat and jumped back in the conversation.
"Well, I'd better get going," Dean said awkwardly. He looked behind Rory and chuckled. He reached out and picked up a box of cornstarch and then set it in her hands. "Make sure you pay for it this time," he said with a wink before walking off.
Rory blushed as Tristan, Jess and Rebecca looked at her questioningly.
"What was that all about?" Rebecca asked as she pointed at the box of cornstarch that Rory was still holding.
"It's silly, really. My first kiss was right here with Dean. He kissed me and I thanked him and ran out of the store with a box of cornstarch that I hadn't paid for," Rory answered quietly.
"You know, Mare, we can replace that with a much better memory right now," Tristan smirked. Rory looked at him and laughed, and before she knew what was happening Tristan had wrapped his arms around her tightly and picked her up. She giggled and threw her arms around his neck, and suddenly he kissed her passionately. She dropped the box of cornstarch she was holding and ran her fingers through his hair as she returned his kiss with abandon. She blushed and pulled away as she heard Jess and Rebecca clapping and whistling at their display and she buried her head in Tristan's chest and giggled.
She was still reeling from the kiss when Taylor Doose came around the corner. He stopped suddenly and eyed Rory.
"Well, if it isn't Miss Gilmore. I must admit that I never expected you to be one of the city people causing a fuss in my market with your salacious behavior," he said snidely.
Rory just rolled her eyes and laughed at him. She dug around in her purse for a minute and then addressed Taylor.
"Nice to see you as always, Taylor. Here are the keys to the Gazette. The last issue I'll be editing has already been uploaded to the server, so it's all yours," Rory informed him.
Taylor huffed in exasperation.
"So you're really going to turn your back on your beloved Gazette?" he asked her.
"No, Taylor. I'm really going to do what's best for me," Rory shot back.
"Fine, have it your way. We'll just have to sell the paper," Taylor informed her before walking off angrily.
Rory just shook her head at the always-dramatic Taylor and slid her hand into Tristan's.
"Come on, guys - let's pay for this stuff and get out of here," she said as she led them to the front of the market.
