"Mom, we're gonna be late!" Rory stood at the bottom of the stairs calling to her mother who was still upstairs.
"Why are you in such a rush to go experience what living in hell is like?" Her mother asked her as she came down the stairs with one shoe on and the other in her hand.
"It's only hell for you, Mom." Rory explained.
"Okay, well then why are you in such a rush to watch me experience what living in hell is like?" Lorelai put on her other shoe.
"Sorry. It's just that grandpa told me he had a surprise for me." Rory said excitedly.
"Oh sweetie, don't get your hopes up. Dad's idea of a surprise is announcing that his stock value went up."
"Well, I'm excited!"
"Okay, whatever. But you're in for a huge disappointment. Now, where'd I put my keys?" Lorelai went into the kitchen in search of the keys.
Rory quickly went into her room and grabbed the red notebook. She stuffed it in her purse. "Okay Mom, hurry!" she shouted as she walked out the door.
"Got 'em!" she heard Lorelai scream from the kitchen.
"Great let's go!"
Lorelai chased after her daughter. On her way to the door she tripped over the phone which was lying on the ground. The heel of her shoe broke off. "Shit!" she cursed.
"What?" Rory turned around to face her mother.
"My shoe broke." Lorelai said sadly as she held up the heel of her shoe for Rory to see.
"Mom!"
"Hunny, it's not my fault. It's this stupid phone's fault!" she kicked the phone.
"You left the phone there."
"Oh yeah. Well, I need to go get another pair of shoes." Lorelai took off her shoes and ran up the stairs.
"Gimme the keys. I'm waiting in the car. If you're not out there in five minutes I'm leaving you."
Lorelai tossed the keys over her shoulder.
The Grandparents' House
Lorelai and Rory had just arrived and sat down in the living room.
"So Grandpa, where's my surprise?" Rory asked excitedly.
The doorbell rang.
Richard and Emily got up to answer it. "That must be them now." Richard told her.
"Them? My surprise is a "them"?" Rory got up and followed them to the door. She watched her grandfather open the door only to reveal Tristan and an old man standing there. Rory looked surprised, but Tristan didn't.
"Hello." he said smugly to her.
"Goodbye." Rory said as she turned to walk away.
"Rory, don't be rude!" Emily said to her.
Rory reluctantly turned back around.
"Janlan is a friend of mine, Rory. I invited him over for dinner and I asked him to bring his grandson. I remember from your birthday party that you knew him. I thought you two could keep each other company after dinner while I discuss business with Janlan." Richard explained.
"Hi, Tristan." Rory said grumpily.
"Hey."
"Well let's all go into the living room." Emily said, leading them there.
Lorelai had been watching this from the living room. When Rory walked by her she whispered to her, "I told you you would be disappointed."
"Shut up."
*****
Dinner had gone fairly well. The only bad part had been when Rory had looked up from her meal to find Tristan staring at her from across the table. She found it very difficult to eat after that because she kept feeling his eyes on her. Now she was taking her purse and making her way up the stairs to "her room". The adults were in the living room and they didn't pay any attention when Rory left.
She laid down on the bed on her stomach and propped herself up with her elbows. She took out the notebook and opened to the next page.
Tears bitterly stream down her crimson cheeks
Pools of water penetrate her lips and I watch her
Confusion sweeps over me as she crawls away
Away from me, and everything I want
In the moment her soul entwined with mine it shatters apart
*Wow* This time Rory was reminded of her kiss with Tristan. She couldn't figure out why this reminded her of that. She was about to turn the page when she heard a knock on the door.
"Come in."
The door opened and in walked Tristan.
"Hey" he said. "Want some company?" He went and sat on the edge of the bed.
"Not really, but I doubt you're going to give me much choice." Rory replied bitterly as she sat up and closed the notebook.
Tristan put a hand to his heart and faked pain. "Oh, Rory, I'm hurt."
"You'll get over it."
Tristan couldn't help but laugh, which caused Rory to laugh also. Then Tristan saw the notebook. He wondered if she had figured out it was his yet.
"Whatcha readin'?"
"Nothing important." Rory said as she tried to put the notebook on the nightstand behind her. Tristan made a grab for it, but she pulled it out of his reach. He grabbed her arm.
"Well if it's not important, then why are you trying to keep it from me?" He grinned at her. Rory's mouth opened as she tried to come up with an explanation. But she couldn't. Tristan grabbed for it again. Rory leaned back to get it out of his reach, but he leaned forward more. Pretty soon he was Rory found herself with her back down on the bed and with Tristan leaning over her. He grabbed the notebook out of her hand.
"Hey!" Rory screamed as she tried to get it from him. Tristan dodged her attempt, but ended up falling down on top of her. When he realized what happened, he froze.
Rory was about to push him off her when she found herself getting lost in his captivating blue eyes. *His eyes look amazing.* As soon as Rory realized she was thinking about Tristan, she snapped herself out of it. She quickly reached up and snatched the red notebook right out of his hand.
That brought Tristan back to reality. Then, he realized that she couldn't get anywhere with him on top of her. He grabbed the notebook back, and as much as he hated to, got up off her. He walked over to a chair and sat down.
"Not fair!" Rory complained.
Tristan acted like he was gonna open it. Then he looked up and smiled at her. "I'm just kidding. You obviously don't want me to know what's in this, so I won't read it." he said as he put it down in his lap.
"Wow, why the change in character?" Rory asked him as she got up, walked over to him and took the notebook from his lap. As she did, her hand brushed his thigh. Tristan's breath caught in his throat. He couldn't concentrate. He couldn't believe he went this crazy over just a simple contact with her.
"Tristan?" Rory waved the notebook in front of his face.
He snapped out of it. "Oh, well I know I'm a jerk to you a lot. So I've decided to try to be nice from now on."
"Oh, really." she said dryly.
"You don't believe me?"
Rory thought for a second before speaking. "I'm not sure. It's just that you being nice for more than five minutes at a time is such a hard concept to grasp."
Tristan was about to argue with her, but they heard Lorelai's voice coming up the stairs.
"Sweetie, Evil One? Are you guys up there?"
"Did your mother just call me Evil One?"
Rory laughed. "Yeah, Mom."
Lorelai walked into the room. "Okay, well, you know how much I hate to leave her, but it's time to go."
"Oh I'm sure you'll get over the disappointment." Rory said as she grabbed her purse and walked out of the bedroom.
Lorelai stood by the door waiting for Tristan. He stopped in front of her. "Did you just call me Evil One?"
Lorelai chuckled and pushed him out the door.
Lorelai's Jeep
On the ride home Lorelai kept asking Rory what her and Tristan were doing up there, but Rory wasn't paying attention. She was thinking about what Tristan had said. *Him being nice to me? I guess it might be good to have him as a friend. He actually is kinda fun to be around sometimes. I dunno, sometimes he seems so sweet. But then other times he can be such a jerk. Though he has been mostly nice to me lately. He has such gorgeous blue eyes. Woah! Did I just say that? This is Tristan we're talking about. Well, I can't deny that he's hot. But that doesn't make up for his attitude. I just can't believe I found myself staring into his eyes tonight. Okay, that's it. No more thinking about Tristan.* She was about to take out the notebook when she realized her mother was talking to her.
"Earth to Rory! Hunny talk to me!"
Rory forced herself to concentrate on Lorelai and making conversation with her. Once again the notebook would just hafta wait.