A/N: God it feels good to be back. After finally getting Chapter 16 written and posted yesterday, I sat down to write this chapter and it just poured out. I love the feeling I get when that happens. I feel so productive. Thanks to the few reviews that I got on the last chapter. I hope that you guys enjoyed it. Here's the next chapter. Hope you guys enjoy it.

Song Playlist: Periscope by Papa Roach; Something Just Like This by The Chainsmokers;

Chapter 17

Rory POV

I wasn't entirely sure what my plan was when I left New Haven, all I knew what that I needed to put some distance between me and Finn. He'd lied to me… or rather Colin had lied for him. When I pulled into my driveway in Hartford I got settled and then I decided to call Steph.

"Hello?" She said when she answered.

"We have a situation." I said.

Steph let out a sigh. "How bad?" She asked.

"Well let's see… Apparently, Finn's ex is in town. I still haven't gotten the whole story on that. Then they supposedly got into a fight, got arrested and then Logan called me to bail them out." I said.

"Sarah's in town?" She asked.

"Apparently. They won't tell me exactly what is going on but I know that their hiding something. What do I do Steph?" I said.

"Where are you?" She asked.

"Hartford."

Finn POV

Rory said that she needed time to think. I was laying in my bed when Logan called. He'd said that the answer had been right in front of us and we hadn't seen it. A few minutes later, Logan came walking into the apartment. "Alright so I got to thinking about it. Sarah said that a little birdie told her that you were dating the double heiress right?" Logan asked me. I nodded. "How would she know that? Who would she know in Hartford that could tell her that would tell her that?"

I thought for a minute. "Let's see. There's me, you, Colin, Steph and… bloody hell." I said as the realization of who would have called Sarah hit me. I stared at Logan.

"What?" Colin asked.

"Bloody DuGrey." I said. I grabbed my keys and ran out of the apartment.

Rory POV

I was sitting on my couch when Steph came walking in. Before we'd hung up earlier she'd told me that she was gonna try and see if she could find out why Finn's ex-girlfriend had just randomly decided to pop up and apparently cause trouble. I couldn't help this gut feeling that I had, but one way or another I was gonna find out. Steph sat on the couch beside me. "What'd you find out?" I asked her.

She let out a sigh. "Guess who Sarah's cousin is?" She said.

"Who?" I asked curiously.

"Tristan." She said. And then the anger came back.

Finn POV

Logan, Colin and I were currently heading to Hartford so that I could find out exactly what DuGrey's problem was and why he felt the need to call my ex-girlfriend. I had a feeling that this was his way of letting me know that he was planning on fighting for Rory. He'd made his presence know at her party, then I'd seen him talking to her at the LDB event. However, since then he'd been quiet, I should have known that he was plotting something. I had to get to him before he could get to Rory. If she had doubt in her mind about our relationship I knew that he'd use that to push the doubt over the edge. So I did the only thing that I could think of. I grabbed my phone and dialed the now familiar number. "Lorelai?"

"Finn? What's wrong? Is Rory okay?" She asked me.

"I think so but I need your help?"

"What can I do?" She asked me. As I got of the exit for Hartford, I quickly explained the recent events to her. "I'll do what I can, Finn." She said before she hung up.

"Do you think that Lorelai can help?" Logan asked me.

"I don't know. I'm hoping that Rory called Steph and Steph being Steph figured everything out and has been able to talk Rory off the invisible ledge. And if I know those two like I think I do, they'll go after Sarah while we're going after DuGrey." I told them.

"You really think that they'll go after Sarah?" Colin asked.

I nodded.

"When Rory finds out that Sarah is his cousin, she's going to be pissed. Rory's a force to be reckoned with when she's pissed off. I've been on the receiving end of it a time or two. Then on top of it she's got Steph as her best friend who had a front row seat to your relationship with Sarah… It's not gonna be pretty." Logan said as I pulled into DuGrey's driveway.

I took a deep breath before the three of us climbed out of my SUV. We walked up to the door and rang the bell. I was surprised when a few minutes later DuGrey answered the door. "Boys. How nice of you to visit me?" He said with that cocky grin on his face. "Finn, heard you ran into Sarah yesterday." He said.

I wanted to punch him so bad. I felt Logan put his hand on my shoulder. "So, what's your play here? Have Sarah show her face around Hartford this summer and place doubt in her head and then when the moment's right you can sweep right in and save the day?" I said shoving my hands in my pocket.

Tristan leaned against the doorframe. "Hmmm… You know I hadn't really thought of any kind of play by play. However, I will mention that your girlfriend called me last night to tell me that she would be in Hartford today. What do you think that says about your relationship?" He said.

I couldn't think about the fact that Rory had called him. She didn't think clearly when she was upset. Especially when she was pissed off. I mean, hell, the first time that we'd really hung out was when she'd got drunk because she'd let Logan get in her head. "I think it just means that Rory has taken pity on you. You gotten know that she's never gonna go out with you. You had your chance in high school and you never got her to go out with you then. Oh yeah, I know the story. Maybe that's why you think that you have a shot now. You see that she's happy with someone from our world and you have this idea that you can weasel your way in there and finally have the shot that you feel that you deserve." I said, clenching my jaw.

Tristan looked like he was about to say something but stopped when his cell phone started ringing. He pulled it out of his pocket and stared at it for a minute. "Oh look," he said showing me the screen, "it's your girlfriend now." He quickly answered the call before it could go to voicemail. "Hey Rory. Are we still on for later?" He said. "Whoa, slow down." Something was up. I glanced at Colin. He nodded before pulling his phone out and walking away. I knew that he was calling Steph. "What are you talking about?" He asked her. "That's not…Of course I want you to be happy, I just thought…Yeah okay. Bye." He ended the call, shoving his phone back in his pocket.

I smirked at him. "I'm pretty confident in my relationship." I said, right as Colin walked back over. I looked at him.

"We gotta go." He said and I nodded.

I turned back to DuGrey. "See you around." I said smiling.

Rory POV

I thought that I had misheard Steph. "Sarah is Tristan's cousin?" I asked and she nodded. "Let's go." I said standing up and grabbing my keys. We walked out and got in my car. It wouldn't be hard for us to figure out where Sarah was staying. She wouldn't stay in a hotel for long. She would need somewhere to hide out and bide her time. If she was here, then clearly Tristan was forming some kind of plan to try and get between me and Finn. "Where would she go? Where would she hide out?" I asked Steph.

"Her parents' house maybe. I'll tell you how to get there." Steph said and I nodded. After a few minutes, "You know that the boys aren't gonna be happy about this right?" She asked me.

I let out a sigh. She was right. "I know. But this is twice now that Tristan has tried to insert himself into a relationship that I have. I don't know what it is, but I have this feeling that he's just using Sarah as a pawn. I'm hoping that we can get to her get her to see reason." I said.

"And if that doesn't work?" Steph asked.

I shrugged. "I don't know, call Tristan out on his bullshit I guess." I said as I followed Steph's directions. About ten minutes later, I pulled into the driveway that Steph had pointed to and parked my car. I took a deep breath before we climbed out of the car. I had no idea how this was about to go but I knew that I had to take a shot or else it was going to be a long summer. Steph and I walked up to the door and Steph rang the bell. A few minutes later, a tall blonde answered the door.

"Oh look it's the heiress. What do I owe the pleasure?" She said.

"What's your play?" I asked her. She wanted to be a bitch then I could bring out the Ice Queen. She'd been itching to come out and play.

She crossed her arms over her chest. "I have no idea what you're talking about." Sarah said.

"Give it a rest Sarah. We know that Tristan convinced you to come home. The question is why?" Steph said glaring at Sarah. Steph had clued me in to how bad her and Finn's relationship had been.

"Oh she speaks." Sarah said turning to talk to Steph. "You know, we used to be friends once." She said before turning back to me. "Look, I'm not gonna sit here and play 20 questions with you two. So just tell me what you want."

"Why?" I asked. It was all that needed to be said.

Sarah nodded. "Tristan and I are close. We're more like brother and sister than we are cousins. He called and said that he'd gone to your party announcing that you were the double heiress and was surprised to find that you and Finn were together. He said that he didn't think that you were the type to date rich, trust fund, playboys. He said that you were better than that and that he was sure that your family had set the two of you up. He was sure that if he could insert himself into your life that he could get you to fall in love with him or at least if you could see that Finn wasn't serious about your relationship that you'd end the relationship and that he could be there to comfort you and when the time was right he'd make his move." Sarah said and I nodded.

"So how do you fit in?" I asked her.

"He said that he was hoping that if Finn saw me that he'd remember the good times that we'd had together and that he'd slip up and you'd find out and then there would be doubt in your mind about the relationship. I guess that Tristan had forgotten that Finn and I didn't really have any good times together. We spent more time partying and drinking and fighting than we did anything else." She said and I nodded. "So I did what he asked. I showed up at the apartment and made my presence known. What I wasn't counting on was the fact that he'd show up later and practically bribe me to leave town. He told me that he was happy. That he was in a really good place in his life. Everything would have been fine if my boyfriend hadn't shown up and started yelling and accusing me of cheating on him with not one but three guys."

"You know, in high school Tristan had this cocky attitude about him and I won't lie… there were times after he left for military school I wondered about what could have been. But then I remember that he tried to come between me and my first boyfriend. He tried to split us up. It didn't work then and it won't work now." I told her. "I'm sorry that because of his stupidity that there are problems between you and your boyfriend."

"Thanks. You know, Finn said it was better to be your friend than your enemy." Sarah said.

"I wouldn't go as far as to say that we're friends but I'm not your enemy."

When Steph and I got back to my condo, I fixed myself a cup of coffee and decided to play my next hand. I pulled my phone out and dialed Tristan's number. "Hey Rory. Are we still on for later?" He asked me when he answered the phone.

"Oh I don't know. I did however just find out some very interesting news and thought that I'd call and share it with you." I said rambling.

"Whoa, slow down. What are you talking about?" He asked me.

"Well, I just had a nice conversation with Sarah. You know Sarah, Finn's ex-girlfriend and your cousin. I mean, of course you know since you're the one that called her to come to town to try and split me and Finn up." I said.

"That's not…" He started but I cut him off.

"Tristan, are you so miserable in your life that you can't see that I'm happy or is it that you don't want me to be happy. Oh and by the way, my grandparents did not set me up with Finn. We met at Yale, but you wouldn't know that because you just see what you want to see. Just like you did at Chilton." I told him.

Of course I want you to be happy, I just thought…" He started when I cut him off again.

"No. My life is just that. My life. You came back to town and you just saw what you wanted. You didn't even try to get to know me. You didn't stop when I told you that I didn't think that it would be a good idea for us to catch up. Stay out of my life Tristan."

Yeah okay. Bye." He said and hung up.

I closed my phone and look over at Steph who had just finished up her own conversation. "Colin?" I asked her.

She nodded. "Yeah? Guess where the boys are?" She asked and I raised an eyebrow at her. "Tristan's driveway." She said and I nodded. Guess it's like they say… great minds think alike.

A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed that. The next chapter is gonna be a filler chapter and there is a time jump coming. Catch you next time. 😊