Rory knocked on the door of Luke's, waiting to see if it would be answered. It was unusually late for her to be out, but she needed coffee. She was surprised when Tristin answered the door.

"Hey," Rory said in greeting. "Where's Luke?"

"Family emergency. He had to take off, leaving him no choice but to trust me to close." Tristin grinned. "What are you doing here so late?"

"I couldn't sleep. I thought some coffee would help."

"How would coffee help you sleep? Wouldn't it do the opposite?"

"It may work that way for the rookies, but in the Gilmore household, coffee is the equivalent of warm milk and counting sheep."

"You know, they probably make some sort of pill for people like you..."

"Ha ha ha," said Rory sarcastically.

"...I think it's called Ritalin," he finished.

Rory glared at him.

"Or maybe some sort of shock therapy."

"Let me be the first to tell you that withholding coffee from a Gilmore during stressful situations such as this will only invite physical harm."

"You promise?" he teased.

"You're impossible!" Rory groaned.

Tristin grinned at her, unashamed. What was it about Rory that made him feel so invigorated? The verbal banter. She could take any of his barbs and fling it straight back at him one hundred times better. Her wit was boundless.

"I have an idea," volunteered Tristin.

"Do I even want to hear this?"

"Probably not, but it's healthier than your coffee addiction. At least hear me out."

"Okay. Shoot."

"Instead of drinking coffee to get you to sleep, lets wear you out instead."

"And how would we go about accomplishing that?" asked Rory suspiciously.

"I was thinking we could go for a run."

"A run? Are you crazy! It's midnight!"

"What, are you afraid you'll get mugged or something? Cause I volunteer my services as knight in shining armor."

"My hero," said Rory, rolling her eyes.

"Come on, let's go for a run."

"But...I'm not really athletic. I'll probably trip and break something. And I don't even like running. You get all tired and out of breath and hot and sweaty... and..." Rory tried to gauge Tristin's reaction, seeing if there was any way to avoid this. She sighed. "I guess I'm going running."

"Hey, think of it this way. If you are as 'not athletic' as you say you are, this shouldn't take long."

Tristin busily went about closing the diner while Rory resigned herself to running. She really hated running.

Ten minutes later, they both stood outside on the pavement stretching. They started down Main Street, running in the opposite direction of Rory's house. They figured they would make a circle around town before ending up at Rory's.

Tristin was impressed that Rory was holding her own. Not bad, for someone as "not athletic" as she claimed to be. He decided to see how far he could push her. Without breaking stride, he poked her side, just under her ribcage.

"Hey! Cut it out!" she panted.

"No." Another poke.

"I'm warning you..."

"What are you going to do about it?" Poke.

"That's it..." Rory growled.

Tristin took off, lightening speed, knowing that Rory was right behind him. He laughed. It was so easy to bait her.

"Hey, come back here!" Rory yelled.

Tristin laughed. "You can't catch me!" He started weaving in and out of bushes and trash cans, knocking over a few.

Rory pumped harder, starting to gain on him. Tristin looked back, noting that she was determined as hell to catch him. Luckily, her house was in sight. He sprinted like crazy, wanting to beat her and have the last laugh. Maybe that's why he was so surprised when Rory's small form tackled him from behind and sent them both flying onto the lawn of Maury and Babette's house. They both sprawled on the grass laughing hysterically.

Inside the house, a light came on, unnoticed by them. Minutes later, Babette's face appeared in a window, baseball bat in plain view. She breathed a sigh of relief at seeing only Tristin and Rory lying on her lawn laughing. Wait a minute. What were Tristin and Rory doing on her lawn laughing so late at night? Babette walked to the door and grasped the knob, ready to go out and send them both home. But then she stopped and thought for a minute. She had heard from Patty about the two of them holding hands looking at the stars the other day. Maybe she would be interrupting something. She knew Rory was a good kid and they weren't causing any harm. Besides, they just looked so happy together! Having made up her mind, Babette returned the baseball bat to its place by the door and returned to bed. She would have a great story to tell everyone tomorrow.

When the two teens finally calmed down enough to talk, Tristin insisted that they needed to stretch again.

"You're mean," complained Rory.

"It was for your own good. I had to do something to wean you off the coffee."

"Ha, good luck. I'll never be weaned off of coffee and I'd never even attempt it. I love it too much."

"You're just in denial. But pretty soon you'll realize you have a serious problem. Kick the habit, one cup at a time."

Rory laughed. "You are so weird."

"From you, I take that as a compliment. So, how do you feel?"

"Tired. But good tired," she admitted.

"And on that note, I will see you tomorrow."

"Okay," agreed Rory. "I really appreciate the run. It means a lot that you were willing to do this for me."

"That's what friends are for," he smiled.

"That is so cheesy!" groaned Rory.

"Fine, then next time you can go running by yourself."

"Next time I'll just drink a cup of coffee. Good night!" Rory waved from her door, then went inside.

Tristin waited for all the lights in the house to go out before heading for home. Man was he going to be sore tomorrow.