Tristan's POV
Tristan quickly dropped his good arm, hoping Rory wouldn't notice. His bad arm hurt but as he tried to move it, he was glad he was able to do that. There had been times when he couldn't move it immediately after.
"Tristan, what's wrong with your arm?" she asked, watching him move his arm slowly.
"Pinched nerve, nothing serious," he said quickly, slinging his good arm around her shoulders.
They walked off the dance floor and he knew she was watching him. He continued looking ahead, trying to maintain that everything was ok when in reality, he needed his pills. He saw Paris sitting at a table with her annoying husband and headed that way.
"Tris, is there something you're not telling me?" Rory asked.
He was taken back by that and left with nothing to say. They kept walking and when they reached the table, Paris started talking so he didn't have to.
"Gilmore, you will not like what I am about to say but you need to talk to Huntzberger."
"Why on Earth are you telling me to do that?" Rory asked and he could tell she was shocked.
"I have my reasons. Just know that I spoke to him already and he's looking for you. I did my piece, do what you want."
Tristan turned to Rory. "Weren't you wanting to talk to him anyway?"
"Yeah, but what about-"
"Mary, don't you think you've put this off long enough?" he asked, hoping to distract her.
He saw her jaw set and knew two things instantly. He'd hit a nerve and now she would definitely go to talk to Logan. He also knew that this wasn't over and she would be asking questions later. That was fine, he could deal with it later, when his mind wasn't clouding over with pain.
"I'll be back. Wait for me here," she said finally and he nodded as he watched her disappear into the crowd of people.
When she was out of his sight, he turned to find Paris watching him closely and her ever present gnat gone.
"Can I help you Geller?"
"What are you keeping from Rory? What's going on? Do I have to use my Krav Maga on you, DuGrey?"
"I need your help Paris, and if you help me, I will tell you everything," he said with a sigh. "Just keep it between us right now."
He sat under her scrutiny and didn't care. He closed his eyes and took this time to truly feel the pain that was radiating through him. He acknowledged the headache that he'd almost got rid of, come back in full force. It was moments like that one, he felt like giving up and giving into the pain. Anything to ease the pain in that moment.
"What's wrong Tristan?" she asked, her voice softer and closer than before.
Tristan opened his eyes to see that she had moved closer. The look on her face reminded of his time in Chilton when she'd had a crush on him. He felt a rush of remorse for how he treated her and knew he should tell her that but couldn't find the words.
"I need medicine that I left in Rory's pool house. I can't tell her, not yet. I'm not ready."
"Why can't you tell her? What aren't you ready for? What kind of medicine do you need? What's wrong with you?" she asked in rapid fire.
Logan's POV
Logan watched Rory walk off the dance floor and turned to Kalli. He suddenly wanted to be anywhere other then there.
"You ready to leave?"
"No," she said quickly, her arms crossed in front of her. "You need to talk to her, figure this out, then come find me."
She walked away, disappearing into the crowd. Feeling frustrated, Logan spun around and walked towards the last place he'd seen Finn and Colin.
"Logan, you wanted to talk to me?"
Suddenly his Ace was there, standing in front of him. At first he was speechless, her blue eyes held him mesmerized. It wasn't until her face changed to irritation and she looked over her shoulder, back the way she'd obviously come, did he snap out of it.
"Yeah, I did. We need to go somewhere just a bit quieter though."
He watched her glance back over her shoulder again before looking back at him.
"Fine. Where?"
He looked around the crowded room and noticed a stairwell with a rope in front of it. Smiling, he grabbed her hand and started pulling her through the crowd. When they were in front of the rope, he dropped her hand and lifted the rope with his other one.
"We're not supposed to. That's why they have the rope there."
"Ace," he said, smiling at her. "This is me you're talking to."
"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked defiantly, crossing her arms in front of her.
"You know your dying to see what's up there," he smirked.
He watched her face and knew she was arguing with herself. Part of her wanted to deny he was right but the other part of her knew he was right. He patiently waited, ready with another argument, should he need it, but confident he wouldn't need it at all.
"If we get in trouble, you better watch out," she warned before ducking under the rope.
"Yes ma'am, Ace," he said with a chuckle as he followed her.
The stairs led to an empty open floor concept. They both looked around and then she shot him another irritated look.
"Now what MAC?"
"I haven't heard that in a long time," he said, smiling warmly as he took his jacket off and laid it on the floor. "We sit and talk because it's quieter like I wanted."
He sat down and patted his jacket as he looked up at her. She sat down and he felt like he'd won a victory.
"So…" they said at the same time before laughing.
"I'm sorry, ladies first," he said when the laughter had died down.
"Well, what is it you wanted to say?" she asked with a smile.
He'd had a lot he wanted to say but as he thought about that, deciding what to start with, all he could think about was Kalli.
"Logan? Is everything ok?" she asked when he hadn't spoken.
"Yeah, I'm good. Look, what do you know about your friend Bridget?"
"Bridget? I've known her around ten years. Why?"
Jess's POV
Jess had walked Lei outside and stood with her, smoking a cigarette. She'd asked about the obvious tension she'd walked in on. He told her honestly had no clue what was wrong but he had every intention of finding out. She nodded and they stood there silently.
"Why'd you come over like that?" he asked as he flicked his cigarette butt into the street.
"Like what?"
"Freaked out," he said, still looking straight ahead.
"I wasn't freaked out," she said defensively.
"Oh, you were freaked out," he chuckled, turning to smile at her. "But you calmed down once you were with me."
"Got an ego problem I see," she said, looking away.
"Come on Lei," he said with another chuckle. "What's up?"
" don't want to, your ego's big enough."
"Please, I don't have an ego. Tristan has an ego but not me. Now tell me."
Jess moved so that he was standing in front of her. They had been leaning against the bus bench booth so she couldn't move away from him. He leaned one arm next to her head and brought his head down closer to hers.
"You…" Lei started and then trailed off, staying silent for awhile before speaking again. "I was talking, about you and how you moved here and you have a couple friends here. That led somehow into your relationship with Rory as you told it to me."
Inwardly groaning, he lit another cigarette. He closed his eyes for a second and restrained from saying huh, he fought the desire to just turn and walk away. Instead, he opened his eyes and looked over at Lei.
"Who were you talking to and why were you talking about this? And what does it have to do with how freaked out you were?"
She sighed and looked relieved. He filed that away for later, interested why she was relieved he asked questions.
"I was talking to my brother. He wanted to know all about who was taking his big sis away. I filled him in and well, he became an earworm to me and I had to see for myself."
"Earworm?" he asked, not liking her brother much at the moment.
"You're not over Rory, you moved here for her, I can't trust you, you weren't answering because you were with her."
"Aw geez."
"Yeah, and I let the doubts sink in and then I had to see for myself," she said softly. "I don't know what's wrong with me. I've never acted this way before. It's all your fault."
She playfully slapped him but he could tell she was nervous. There were things about her that reminded him so much of Rory but he didn't dare tell her. Especially after today. But she was nowhere near Rory-like in many ways. She was an enigma to him he needed to figure out.
He leaned down and captured her lips, kissing her. He kept the kiss quick since they both had lit cigarettes but he made sure she understood in that kiss, what he didn't say.
Logan's POV
As Logan expected, Rory didn't take it well when he questioned her judgement on someone she called a friend. He knew it was going to be a tough sell though and he kept pressuring her. When he'd finally broke through her defensive wall, he made her realize she didn't really know much about Bridget after all.
He told her about everything he'd figured out with the help of Kalli. Rory sat in shock, speechless as she stared ahead. She sat like that so long, he actually started to worry.
"Are we talking about the same Bridget?" she asked finally.
"I'm a 100% sure, she seems to be obsessed with you," he told her as he watched her face fall. "I'm sorry, Ace."
They sat quietly for a few moments, while he let her think. Now that his main goal was accomplished, he was already thinking of the beaches and hitting the surf.
"It's ok. I know how to handle her," Rory said finally, looking up at him. "Thank you for telling me."
"No problem Ace, I'll always have your back," he said, smiling warmly at her.
"Logan," she said with a sigh.
He leaned forward a little without realizing it. "Ace?"
"We still need to talk."
He sighed and sat back. He knew she was right but for a moment there, talking was the furthest thing from his mind.
"Yeah, I suppose we do."
"I know what was said, last time," she said, hesitantly. "But I met someone, well re-met someone, and…"
"And you guys clicked," he said, nodding his head.
"Yeah," she said with a big breath. "We never had a chance back at Chilton."
"Chilton? That's way back."
"It is, circa Junior year and then poof, he was gone."
"Only to appear New Year's."
"Only to appear New Year's," she agreed.
"I have one question," he said after several silent moments.
"Of course."
Logan looked around the empty room. It would need some work but it would be a nice space to use. He purposely kept his eyes averted as he asked his question.
"Earlier tonight, our eyes locked, I felt…and I know you felt it too. What was that if you don't feel the same?"
Tristan's POV
Tristan told Paris about retiring and going to DC to transition home. He had a whole different life set up for him, he just had to do six months on home base before he was done. He was a week away from his exit date when the idiot rookies decided it was a great time to get drunk and break into the armory to take selfies.
Drunk men and weapons have never been a good mix and the idiots ended up blowing up a fourth of the base. It just so happened it was where he worked and he'd just sat down to his desk. He was injured on the left side by debris in his head and his shoulder, but he was lucky because he survived. There were others that didn't, including the idiot rookies.
Due to his injury and the subsequent surgeries, he had residual pain that was a part of his life, chronic pain. Luckily he didn't have to explain anymore, being the doctor she was, Paris immediately understood the medicines and his problems.
"And Gilmore doesn't know? Why doesn't she know?"
"Ugh, my own idiot weakness and fears stopping me."
"So what do you need?"
"I need my pills from the pool house, I can't tell Mary, I can't leave her, but I need those pills."
Tristan looked at her, feeling worse than ever reliving it as he explained it. That's what made an injury. It's not the pain, it's the constant reliving.
"Look, let me find Doyle and then I'll go, just tell me where they are."
"My black toiletry bag, left side and buried."
He watched her walk away and tried to sit up straighter. He felt irritated and frustrated that he had to have a flare up this serious tonight of all nights. If this was going to keep happening, he wasn't going to be able to keep this from Mary anymore.
Thinking of her, he slowly turned in his chair so he could look for her. He couldn't see her anywhere. Shrugging, he leaned over the table and groaned to himself.
"Well hello to you too," a voice said that grated on his headache.
He looked up to find Paris' husband sitting down. He didn't really know the guy but he found him annoying. He couldn't understand what she saw in this guy. He didn't know him but he found him annoying.
"Paris?" he asked dully.
The guy nodded. "I was told to take care of DuGrey and not let Gilmore know."
"Fine, fine, just do it quietly," Tristan growled, his head felt like a drill with every word that was said.
Rory's POV
Rory couldn't believe how easy it was to talk to Logan about feelings and relationships. Back at Yale, he would never have willingly sat down to have the conversation. They were both in the same place, having met someone that they were really interested in. They both also were confused by old feelings being right under the surface.
"Well, what do we do about that?" he asked.
"Who said we have to do anything about it?"
"So you want to just ignore the feelings?"
"Not feelings, the possibility of feelings, and yes, yes I do," she said with determination. "I really like Tristan, Logan. The time was never right before…and he, he scared me, I was so young."
She smiled as she thought back on the days in Chilton. Yes, Tristan had bugged her every chance he could and she was still sure it would have been a mistake to act on it back then. She thought about it even though she never told anyone, not even Lane. Tristan DuGrey was cute, smooth, and quite the distraction back then and now, well now he was still all those things.
"You know, it's partly thanks to you that we got this chance," she said, remembering the man across from her.
"Gee, just what a guy wants to hear," Logan said as he rolled his eyes.
"No, listen. You taught me to jump, remember? I was scared and you told me that wasn't a way to live. I jumped with you and I'll never regret those 3 years," she told him, reaching out to place her hand on his. "That's what I'm doing now, I'm jumping. This whole time, since you walked away, I didn't jump, I didn't let people in. I even screwed up family relationships. I was too afraid to get hurt to take a chance. I don't want to live like that and I need to take this chance. Do you understand me?"
He nodded and Rory felt relief. They talked just a little longer before they made their way back to the party. It looked like they were getting ready to announce the winners of the silent auction. At the bottom of the stairs, they turned to each other and she noticed it was awkward. She leaned in and gave him a hug.
"We'll keep in touch," Logan said as he put his arms around her.
"We won't just say it," she said. "We'll mean it. Birthdays, holidays, and important life moments."
"You'll always be my Ace and if there's ever a way…" he trailed off asking.
She pulled back and gave him a firm look that broke with a smile. "Go look for you Kalli."
"Tell Tristan he better take care of you or else."
She smiled and they went their separate ways, neither one looking back. As she was making her way back to the table she noticed Paris rushing in the same direction. She wondered what that was about but before she could take another step, her cell phone rang. Checking the ID, she answered, covering the ear so she'd hear better.
"What's up Mom? They're about to announcing the winners of the silent auction and I need to get to Tristan."
"Sweets," her mom said and Rory could tell she'd been crying.
"Mom? What's wrong?"
"Your dad…"
There was a commotion off to the side but she noticed it all the same. Francine Hayden had just feinted.
