A/N: Sorry for the long breaks between updates, but I've been having trouble with fanfiction.net ever since the "big shut down" as I like to call it. Anyway, I am continuing to write more but uploading is a real problem. Just so you don't think I've been slacking off. =)
Lorelai hurried up to the counter at Luke's, obviously frazzled. Her disposition sagged a little upon not seeing Luke at the counter, but immediately lifted again when Tristin handed her a cup of coffee.
"Wow, I didn't even have to beg!"
"What else would you be here for?" Tristin deadpanned.
"I like you better than Luke," said Lorelai, ignoring the rhetorical question. "Luke never just hands over the coffee. It's more of a beg, plead, threaten, whine thing. And then when he actually caves, he lectures the whole time, thereby spoiling the whole caffeine jump start process."
"Would it make you feel better if I wore flannel and frowned more?"
"It would be less of a shock to the system," Lorelai agreed.
Tristin just smiled. Rory was exactly like her mother. While Lorelai was oblivious to Luke's feelings for her (and, Tristin suspected, to her feelings for him), Rory was clueless when it came to Tristin's feelings for her. Looks like the coffee addiction wasn't the only thing that ran in the family...apparently denial was also in the genes.
"So what's new? You look a little wired."
"Rough day at the office. Nothing a little coffee won't fix!" Lorelai grinned cheerfully, already relaxing. "So what's new with you? Planning on throwing another sprinkler extravaganza anytime soon? Cause I'm really disappointed that I missed out on the last one."
Tristin rolled his eyes. The town was still talking about it. And it had happened over a week ago! Not that it hadn't been fun...it had been one of most memorable moments of his life.
Lorelai caught his expression and smiled secretly to herself. Just as she had suspected. She tried to come up with a diplomatic way to ask the question. Finding none, she just threw it out on the table.
"So what's up with you and Rory?"
"What?" he managed to choke out. Her question had taken him completely by surprise. He had known that someone would eventually ask it, but he still wasn't prepared with an answer. How could he explain it to a third party when he couldn't even begin to piece together the complexities of the situation himself?
Lorelai smiled delightedly at seeing his deer caught in headlights expression. Which he suppressed skillfully. But it was too late. The damage was done.
"We're friends," he said diplomatically.
"I know that, Mr. State the Obvious. What I really meant to ask was you like Rory!"
"That wasn't a question!"
"Oh, stop trying to change the subject!" She disregarded his last statement with a dismissive wave of her hand. She leaned closer, trying to squish all the information out of him. "Do you like Rory?" she asked, her voice filled with genuine curiosity and caring.
"Is it that obvious?" he sighed.
"To everyone but her," said Lorelai sympathetically
"Everyone!?"
"The town even has a pool going. Whoever comes closest to the day that Rory wakes up and smells the coffee, so to speak, gets a pretty hefty pot of money."
"Are you serious?"
Lorelai nodded emphatically. "Think how much coffee that could buy me!"
Tristin buried his face into the counter. "This is so not good."
"Why not? Don't you want her to know? I know my daughter can be pretty oblivious when it comes to this kind of stuff," she stated ironically.
"I do, but I don't. She's my best friend! It would be stupid to throw that away."
"Who says you would be throwing it away? Maybe it would just add a new facet to the relationship."
"I still can't take that chance. Just knowing her, being around her...she has given me so much. She's probably the best thing that's ever happened to me. It's taken so much just to be friends with her. I may want more, but she's not ready or willing to be more. And I accept that. I can be happy just being her friend."
"For a second there, I almost believed you."
"It's true," he insisted.
"Once more, with feeling!"
Tristin smacked his forehead with the palm of his hand and let out a frustrated groan.
"You know, they say that you can't truly be a friend to someone if you want more...because friends are supposed to be honest with one another, and if you keep that secret desire hidden, it'll put up walls. Bad walls. Walls are bad," she emphasized.
"Says who?"
"Some very wise person."
"Thanks, that's really helpful," he said sarcastically.
"Tristin, I'm serious. I see the way you look at my daughter. I see the way she looks at you. I'm not blind. She may not realize it yet, but there's something there. Maybe you need to give it a little more time to grow, but it's there. Can't you see it?"
"She could never feel that way about me," Tristin stated matter of factly.
"And why not?"
"She's too good for me."
"Oh, come on! Where's the confident Tristin Dugrey, conqueror of all hearts!"
"He moved. To China. Never to return."
"Love knows no good or bad," Lorelai stated wisely. "It just happens. Who can explain it? Who can tell you why?"
"Fools give you reasons, wise men never try," finished Tristin.
"Damn, you saw South Pacific too. Way to steal my thunder."
Tristin cracked a smile.
"Well, here's something to think about," said Lorelai as she finished the last of her coffee. "Do you not want to pursue this because you're afraid to lose the relationship you already have, or is it more you're afraid of rejection and getting hurt?"
Tristin pondered the question for a bit.
"And on that note, it's back to the daily grind for me. I'm sure I'll see you around later," Lorelai commented. And with that, she was out the door.
Tristin was shaken out of his reverie by the next customer. "Hey," he said, forcing his features into a smile. "What can I get you?"
Later that night, Lorelai and Rory sat on the porch swing sipping lemonade.
"You know what would make this lemonade so much better?" posed Lorelai.
"I probably don't want to hear this," Rory said with a wry grin.
"If it was coffee!!"
Rory rolled her eyes. "Let's hear it for the one track mind."
Lorelai grinned unashamedly. "And proud of it."
Rory sighed thoughtfully.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong. What makes you think something is wrong?"
"You sighed."
"I did no such thing."
"Alright, it must've been my imaginary friend Bob. Bob, what's wrong?" asked Lorelai with fake concern.
"I just thought it was weird that Tristin hadn't dropped by yet."
"Was he supposed to?"
"Well, no, but he usually does."
"Ah."
"Ah? Care to elaborate?"
"Oh, nothing," Lorelai said casually. "You know, it's okay to admit that you miss him when he's not around."
"And what gave you that impression?" snorted Rory.
"Oh, my bad. It all goes back to the imaginary sigh."
"Because I don't need him to entertain me twenty four hours a day. I'm perfectly capable of amusing myself. I'm a self sufficient person."
"That you are."
There was a minute of silence.
"Okay, so I'm going to go over Tristin's now."
"That's my girl."
Rory hopped off the swing and went into the house to get shoes. Lorelai smiled in satisfaction.
"See you later, Mom!" she yelled as she ran out the door.
She stopped in her tracks when she saw Tristin coming up the front walk. She smiled brightly. "Hey! Where have you been?" she scolded lightly.
"Sorry, I had some stuff to take care of," he answered cryptically. "But I'm all yours now!"
"Ooh, lucky me," she said rolling her eyes.
They continued walking down the front walk, waving over their shoulders to Lorelai. Tristin quickly glanced back at Lorelai, still sitting on the porch swing. She gave him a thumbs up sign. Tristin just shook his head, amused, and turned back to Rory.
Lorelai watched the two teenagers slowly amble down the dusky street. Oh yeah. Definite denial.
Lorelai hurried up to the counter at Luke's, obviously frazzled. Her disposition sagged a little upon not seeing Luke at the counter, but immediately lifted again when Tristin handed her a cup of coffee.
"Wow, I didn't even have to beg!"
"What else would you be here for?" Tristin deadpanned.
"I like you better than Luke," said Lorelai, ignoring the rhetorical question. "Luke never just hands over the coffee. It's more of a beg, plead, threaten, whine thing. And then when he actually caves, he lectures the whole time, thereby spoiling the whole caffeine jump start process."
"Would it make you feel better if I wore flannel and frowned more?"
"It would be less of a shock to the system," Lorelai agreed.
Tristin just smiled. Rory was exactly like her mother. While Lorelai was oblivious to Luke's feelings for her (and, Tristin suspected, to her feelings for him), Rory was clueless when it came to Tristin's feelings for her. Looks like the coffee addiction wasn't the only thing that ran in the family...apparently denial was also in the genes.
"So what's new? You look a little wired."
"Rough day at the office. Nothing a little coffee won't fix!" Lorelai grinned cheerfully, already relaxing. "So what's new with you? Planning on throwing another sprinkler extravaganza anytime soon? Cause I'm really disappointed that I missed out on the last one."
Tristin rolled his eyes. The town was still talking about it. And it had happened over a week ago! Not that it hadn't been fun...it had been one of most memorable moments of his life.
Lorelai caught his expression and smiled secretly to herself. Just as she had suspected. She tried to come up with a diplomatic way to ask the question. Finding none, she just threw it out on the table.
"So what's up with you and Rory?"
"What?" he managed to choke out. Her question had taken him completely by surprise. He had known that someone would eventually ask it, but he still wasn't prepared with an answer. How could he explain it to a third party when he couldn't even begin to piece together the complexities of the situation himself?
Lorelai smiled delightedly at seeing his deer caught in headlights expression. Which he suppressed skillfully. But it was too late. The damage was done.
"We're friends," he said diplomatically.
"I know that, Mr. State the Obvious. What I really meant to ask was you like Rory!"
"That wasn't a question!"
"Oh, stop trying to change the subject!" She disregarded his last statement with a dismissive wave of her hand. She leaned closer, trying to squish all the information out of him. "Do you like Rory?" she asked, her voice filled with genuine curiosity and caring.
"Is it that obvious?" he sighed.
"To everyone but her," said Lorelai sympathetically
"Everyone!?"
"The town even has a pool going. Whoever comes closest to the day that Rory wakes up and smells the coffee, so to speak, gets a pretty hefty pot of money."
"Are you serious?"
Lorelai nodded emphatically. "Think how much coffee that could buy me!"
Tristin buried his face into the counter. "This is so not good."
"Why not? Don't you want her to know? I know my daughter can be pretty oblivious when it comes to this kind of stuff," she stated ironically.
"I do, but I don't. She's my best friend! It would be stupid to throw that away."
"Who says you would be throwing it away? Maybe it would just add a new facet to the relationship."
"I still can't take that chance. Just knowing her, being around her...she has given me so much. She's probably the best thing that's ever happened to me. It's taken so much just to be friends with her. I may want more, but she's not ready or willing to be more. And I accept that. I can be happy just being her friend."
"For a second there, I almost believed you."
"It's true," he insisted.
"Once more, with feeling!"
Tristin smacked his forehead with the palm of his hand and let out a frustrated groan.
"You know, they say that you can't truly be a friend to someone if you want more...because friends are supposed to be honest with one another, and if you keep that secret desire hidden, it'll put up walls. Bad walls. Walls are bad," she emphasized.
"Says who?"
"Some very wise person."
"Thanks, that's really helpful," he said sarcastically.
"Tristin, I'm serious. I see the way you look at my daughter. I see the way she looks at you. I'm not blind. She may not realize it yet, but there's something there. Maybe you need to give it a little more time to grow, but it's there. Can't you see it?"
"She could never feel that way about me," Tristin stated matter of factly.
"And why not?"
"She's too good for me."
"Oh, come on! Where's the confident Tristin Dugrey, conqueror of all hearts!"
"He moved. To China. Never to return."
"Love knows no good or bad," Lorelai stated wisely. "It just happens. Who can explain it? Who can tell you why?"
"Fools give you reasons, wise men never try," finished Tristin.
"Damn, you saw South Pacific too. Way to steal my thunder."
Tristin cracked a smile.
"Well, here's something to think about," said Lorelai as she finished the last of her coffee. "Do you not want to pursue this because you're afraid to lose the relationship you already have, or is it more you're afraid of rejection and getting hurt?"
Tristin pondered the question for a bit.
"And on that note, it's back to the daily grind for me. I'm sure I'll see you around later," Lorelai commented. And with that, she was out the door.
Tristin was shaken out of his reverie by the next customer. "Hey," he said, forcing his features into a smile. "What can I get you?"
Later that night, Lorelai and Rory sat on the porch swing sipping lemonade.
"You know what would make this lemonade so much better?" posed Lorelai.
"I probably don't want to hear this," Rory said with a wry grin.
"If it was coffee!!"
Rory rolled her eyes. "Let's hear it for the one track mind."
Lorelai grinned unashamedly. "And proud of it."
Rory sighed thoughtfully.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong. What makes you think something is wrong?"
"You sighed."
"I did no such thing."
"Alright, it must've been my imaginary friend Bob. Bob, what's wrong?" asked Lorelai with fake concern.
"I just thought it was weird that Tristin hadn't dropped by yet."
"Was he supposed to?"
"Well, no, but he usually does."
"Ah."
"Ah? Care to elaborate?"
"Oh, nothing," Lorelai said casually. "You know, it's okay to admit that you miss him when he's not around."
"And what gave you that impression?" snorted Rory.
"Oh, my bad. It all goes back to the imaginary sigh."
"Because I don't need him to entertain me twenty four hours a day. I'm perfectly capable of amusing myself. I'm a self sufficient person."
"That you are."
There was a minute of silence.
"Okay, so I'm going to go over Tristin's now."
"That's my girl."
Rory hopped off the swing and went into the house to get shoes. Lorelai smiled in satisfaction.
"See you later, Mom!" she yelled as she ran out the door.
She stopped in her tracks when she saw Tristin coming up the front walk. She smiled brightly. "Hey! Where have you been?" she scolded lightly.
"Sorry, I had some stuff to take care of," he answered cryptically. "But I'm all yours now!"
"Ooh, lucky me," she said rolling her eyes.
They continued walking down the front walk, waving over their shoulders to Lorelai. Tristin quickly glanced back at Lorelai, still sitting on the porch swing. She gave him a thumbs up sign. Tristin just shook his head, amused, and turned back to Rory.
Lorelai watched the two teenagers slowly amble down the dusky street. Oh yeah. Definite denial.