Disclaimer: I don't own any part of Gilmore Girls or its characters – the only thing I came up with was the story line.

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Cheers

Chapter 3: First Loves, Accountants and Twists of Fate

"Nice to see you too – Bag Boy."

Tristan DuGrey smiled as he took his place at the bar, openly enjoying the seething expression on his former rival's face. He nodded at the barman. "What's up, Dave?"

"I'm doing good," Dave grinned at the newcomer. "The usual, I suppose?"

"You got it," Tristan nodded. He turned to look at his companions, resting his gaze curiously on Jess. "And you are…?"

"Jess Mariano," Jess said, offering the blond man his hand.

"Tristan DuGrey," Tristan replied, gripping Jess's hand in a firm shake. He smirked at Dean. "So, Dean, how've you been?"

"Just peachy," Dean muttered sulkily, hands tightening on the mug in front of him. He looked warily at the man sitting beside him. "Mind telling me what you're doing here?"

"Touchy, touchy," Tristan remarked lightly, his voice mocking as he took the drink Dave placed in front of him. "Is that really any way to greet an old friend, Dean?"

"Okay, can you be any more cryptic?" Jess said, raising his eyebrows. "Someone care to enlighten Dave and me here?"

"Dean and I go way back," Tristan's lips quirked in a grin as he looked slyly at the other man.

"He was the jackass who gave Rory a tough time when she first transferred to Chilton," Dean explained, casting a glare at Tristan.

"Oh, come now," Tristan said reproachfully, although his eyes were brimming with laughter. "There's no need for name-calling here, is there?"

"Nice to see you're as much of a pain in the ass as you were back then," Dean retorted, munching wrathfully on another pretzel.

Tristan laughed. "Look, it's obvious we're here for the same reason."

"Let me guess," Dave said, struggling to keep his amusement in check. "Rory Gilmore?"

Hearing the familiar name, Tristan blinked with astonishment. "What are you, a mind reader?"

"Not quite," Dave smiled. "It's just that her name seems to be popping up an awful lot of times tonight."

"Hang on a minute," Jess stared at Tristan doubtfully. "You mean to say you had it bad for Rory too?"

"Too?" Tristan raised his eyebrows. "What is this – some sort of secret Rory Gilmore support group or something?"

"Bright boy," Dean said, giving Tristan a sidelong glance. "You nailed it on the first attempt."

"Great," Tristan shook his head, disbelief lingering in his eyes. "There are dozens of other bars in this city, and I have to pick this one. It's like the Twilight Zone episode from hell."

Dean snorted. "Which is only fitting, seeing how you're the spawn of Satan and all."

"Cute, Bag Boy," Tristan said, his tone withering. "Real cute."

"So, Tristan," Jess cut in diplomatically, "what's your story?"

Tristan frowned. "Excuse me?"

"So far, everyone who's come in here has had some story or other about Rory Gilmore," Dave explained. "What's yours?"

For the first time since he'd sat down, Tristan looked uncomfortable. "There's nothing to talk about."

"Oh, come on, DuGrey," Dean said. "Jess and I have had our turn. Now it's yours."

Tristan hesitated. "Well…"

"Spill the beans, and the next round of beer is on me," Dean grinned, knowing full well the man wouldn't say no.

It worked like a charm. "Well, when you put it that way…" Tristan paused for a moment. "I met Rory the first day of my sophomore year at Chilton. She was the new girl, and I was the kingpin."

"So modest," Dean quipped, rolling his eyes.

"Anyhow," Tristan continued, pointedly ignoring Dean's wisecrack. "I came into class late that day, I remember that." A pensive smile touched his lips for a fleeting moment. "She was sitting there, looking so out of place, so damn naïve, it was kind of hard to miss her among all those other students."

"It's kind of hard to miss her, period," Dean corrected, looking unusually serious.

"You're right," Tristan nodded solemnly. "She just…stood out. And I thought, hell, here's another prospective conquest – another possible notch in my belt. But of course, it never turned out that way."  He looked down.

"Keep talking," Jess ordered, his beer temporarily forgotten.

"I thought she wasn't any different from the others, so I treated her the way I would any other girl," Tristan went on. "But I found out soon enough that I was wrong. She wasn't – she isn't – like any other girl I've ever met. And that threw me for a loop." He grabbed a pretzel, and his brow furrowed with frustration as the memories came flooding back. "I flirt with her, and I get no reaction. Au contraire, she shoots me this disdainful look and throws a comeback at me."

"So you finally met your match," Jess supplied, and Tristan nodded.

"I just didn't get it, you know?" Tristan ran a hand through his already tousled hair. "Any other girl would've fallen at my feet if I so much as looked her way. Any other girl would've blushed and giggled like crazy if I actually bothered to even say hi."

"But you forget," Dean said, pushing the half-empty bag of pretzels toward Tristan. "Rory's not just any girl."

"Right again, my friend," Tristan conceded, absently selecting another salty cracker. "Rory's…special." Bitterness flickered in his stormy blue eyes. "But of course, I never got the chance to tell her that. She was too damn preoccupied with you, Bag Boy." He smiled ruefully at Dean.

"So what happened next?" Dave questioned.

"Let me see," Tristan swirled his drink around in his mug. "Whatever it was I did, she always shot me down. She acted like she hated me, like she couldn't stand even talking to me. But I suppose it was my own fault." He sighed deeply. "Every time I tried to be sincere, she always thought I was just fooling around. Like she thought I wasn't the sort of person who could change, who could be something other than shallow." He shook his head. "I tried, you know. But she never even gave me half a chance."

"Yeah well," Dean said, awkwardly trying to console the dejected young man sitting next to him. "You know what they say – it's always your first love that hits you the hardest."

"Damn right it is," Tristan grunted, finishing up his drink. He was silent for a moment. "You know, I kept trying to get her to like me – I tried so damn hard, no matter how many times she pushed me away. And that night at Madeline's party, I honestly thought we'd finally gotten somewhere."

"Madeline?" Jess's ears perked up. "Who's Madeline?"

"This girl who used to be Tristan and Rory's class mate," Dean clarified, and Tristan nodded.

"Madeline threw this huge party at her house the night after Dean and Rory first broke up," Tristan said. "It was the setting for my humiliating break up with Summer, the girl I was briefly dating." He looked down. "But that night also brought me my first kiss with Rory. And that made up for all the crummy things I had to put up with along the way." Sighing, Tristan closed his eyes. "In the middle of all the shit that happened, I had this one perfect moment with the girl I loved. And I couldn't have asked for more."

"But?" Dave prompted.

"She was still hung up over Dean," Tristan smiled wryly. "It seemed that I was just the thing Rory needed to make her realize how traumatized she was over the break up. So she started crying and ran out on me. Not exactly the sort of reaction I was expecting, but well…" He shrugged. "It was better than nothing." He paused. "Hey, remember that night at the Winter Formal?"

"Oh yeah," Dean grinned, despite himself. He turned to Dave and Jess. "That was some time after Rory and I started dating. And it was the first time Tristan and I ever met. I'd say it was a rousing success, wouldn't you?"

"Oh, definitely," Tristan joked. "You basically said I looked like an accountant, and we came this close to having a fistfight right there in the middle of the dance."

Jess burst into laughter. "An accountant?"

"He was wearing a tie, for God's sake!" Dean pointed out, grinning. "Who the hell can act tough when they're wearing a tie?"

"Give me a break, man," Tristan said, raising both hands in a gesture of surrender. "I was a kid."

"A smart assed, stuck up, obnoxious one at that," Dean added mercilessly.

"Yeah, yeah," Tristan waved Dean's words away. "But at least I wasn't the one who was stupid enough to let her go over something as trivial as a little fight." He turned to Jess and Dave. "Dean here broke up with Rory three months into their relationship, because she wasn't ready to say I love you. If that wasn't a first-rate example of supreme idiocy, then I don't know what is." 

"It's like you said, DuGrey," Dean said, his face growing thoughtful. "I was a kid."

"Hell," Jess said, sighing. "We all were."

"You speak the truth, Mariano," Tristan smiled tiredly. A temporary lull fell over the group, and Dave took the opportunity to replenish everyone's drinks.

"Just off the record, what twist of fate brought the three of you here on the same night, at the same time?" Dave asked, shifting his eyes from Jess to Dean to Tristan.

Tristan turned to look at Jess and Dean. "You mean to say you didn't tell him?"

"No," Jess shrugged, looking somewhat discomfited. "We, uh, kind of got carried away with all the story-telling."

"It figures," Tristan muttered, shaking his head.

"So?" Dave prodded. "What mysterious occurrence propelled the three of you into my humble bar tonight?"

"You really want to know?" Dean asked. He waited for Dave to nod before exchanging glances with Jess and Tristan. "Then you'd better sit down. It's going to be a long night."

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To Be Continued…