here it is folks..the pleasantly anticipated next part. for all of ya'll who want this to hurry up and get on the way, remember! that's the buildup. stick around for the crash; maybe i'll just have them suddenly commit terrible violation of each other out of the blue....sike, never. hey, drop that nasty thought back in the gutter where it came from.
oh is it just me or is anyone else slightly thrilled by the fact that the next episode of GG runs in the TRORY DIRECTION!!! sorry, i'm all calm now. don't miss it.
luce
RORY'S POV
For once, I dared to believe I was human.
I wonder if I deceived myself.
But as he lay there asleep on the couch, the golden lamplight melting over his face as he peacefully breathed in and out with that guarded vitality he always held, he looked human. I watched him quietly, not wanting to wake him up; it was almost a miracle to witness the change that passed over his features.
They melted into a small, defenseless little boy look; still heartbreakingly handsome, yet vulnerable.....the corners of his mouth drooped as though he were pouting in his sleep. He looked so lost, so sad, so completely alone that all of a sudden I had the motherly urge to wrap him in a huge hug and tell him everything would be alright. Considering how awkward it would be if he woke up, I put away that thought and spent another ten minutes trying to find a clock.
It was ten, and tomorrow was a school day.
Hurriedly running to the laundry room, I got my clothes out of the dryer, and climbed the steps to his room to get the shoes I'd forgotten there.
I started changing as quick as I could, when I felt the sudden presence of someone.
Bewildered, he stood in the doorway where he'd just stepped, watching me with a dumbfounded look; his hair was a mess, and his brilliant blue eyes were hazy with sleep, and for a split second he seemed confused.
I felt his gaze wash over me like the chill water of some blue mountain lake; a slight smile played on his features as the volcanic blush rose to my cheeks.
Suddenly, as though realizing what was happening, he turned around abruptly. Quickly, I put on the remainder of my clothes, and gluing my eyes to the floor I nervously folded the loaners.
"You can turn around," I said, voice probably unsteady.
He turned slowly, avoiding my eyes too; but there was a look about his face that sent a shiver through me, the look of a person being tortured, yet.....blissful.....
"I'm sorry," he breathed out suddenly. "I didn't know you were in here-"
"It's alright," I interrupted. "I should probably be going home."
"Right, right," he muttered, and searched on his dresser for the keys. There was an immense current running through the room, and I felt as though if I were to accidentally touch him I'd be electrocuted; scared at the sudden tenseness a moment had caused, I wondered if I were going insane. Play it off Rory, make it seem normal, don't make this seem worse than it is.........
"I think we made some progress today," I said as warmly as I could, and smiled at him. Pleasantly surprised, he nodded.
"What about the Boston issue?"
"Lemme figure out what I can do tonight," I told him, and feverishly banished it from my mind.
We drove home in a comfortable half silence half banter, and when I stepped out, I leaned my face in the window to say bye.
"Gnight Mary, when you dream about me, take it as a sign."
"Don't worry, I won't. And may I say that you look more Mary than me when you're sleeping?" I replied sweetly, giggling at the shock on his face.
"I was sleeping?" he asked in disbelief, insecurity suddenly shadowing his confident countenance.
"Like a little angel," I crooned, thinking about how it was more true then I'd admit.
Suddenly smirking again, he eyed me.
"Was I drooling? Talking? Snoring? Fantasizing?"
I suddenly had the desire to laugh.
"I don't know about that last one, but the first, no. Well, except for the drooling part. I was about to put a bucket under your face."
"Whatever," he rolled your eyes. "The only drooling done in my house is done by my mom when she watches the pool boy cleaning," he said, and the harshness of it shadowed the humor.
"Good night Tristan," I smiled, and walked away.
Standing on the front porch, I watched the silver car race away, deftly turning the corner and disappearing into the night like a pale ghost.
"Kind of late, aren't we?" lilted the voice behind me.
"Oh, mom, I'm so sorry....lost track of time..then, we typed and I fell in the pool, and-"
"Whatever. You know I trust you. Whether I trust you with him is the question....I wouldn't trust me with him.....but the falling in the pool part sounds interesting. Say, you'd best reform him first. If you marry him, I refuse to go to all your snobby society get together things."
"Mooom," I whined. "I'm not marrying anybody, especially the Evil one. Me and Dean will get married and have a nice house and 3 kids one day......"
"And who'll Tristan be then?" she said softly, in that knowing voice of hers.
"The pool boy," I replied without even thinking, and the look on her face said it all.
"Exactly," she grinned, and went inside, leaving me much confused and much unsatisfied with myself.
"C'mon in Mini me," she yelled, and her voice brought warmth to my chilled realizations.
We shared a silent cup of coffee over a lot of unspokens, when she finally leaned over.
"How bout you tell me what's really going on, Rory?"
The world felt wide and lonely and confusing, and suddenly I wanted a hug. From the safe confines of her sympathetic and frustratingly analytical arms, I let it all pour out.
"Things just feel weird,....like when he sleeps, he looks un-evil, and when I fell in the pool, he dragged me to the bottom, and he's smart, but, he's evil, and he keeps hitting on me! but it's funny, and it's frustrating, and we fight all the time, I don't know why! he provokes me so bad! we're always having some kind of argument, but not the bad kind. He looks so innocent when he's sleeping......" I blabbered out nonsensically, but she seemed to understand.
Chuckling, she stroked my hair.
"Sexual tension," she said in a mock-scientific tone, and we giggled together.
"Whatever," I grinned, and leaned back.
Sighing, she regarded me with a troubled but amused countenance.
"Rory Gilmore, you are falling for that boy. I'm willing to bet my best pair of pumps on it. You can deny it until judgment day comes, but that won't make it any less true. The only thing I advise you to keep in mind is that first impressions can be deceiving, and don't do anything stupid. He's a boy, give him a push in the wrong direction and he'll take you down like an avalanche. What's with the trip to Boston?"
"I don't know," I said frustrated. "What should I do?"
"Take a trip down there for the day. Leave really early and come back late, get all your pictures and papers and statues and witches and Scarlet Letters and bring 'em back. Sound like a plan?"
"I guess....."
Looking at the bottom of our empty mugs, we checked the time.
"Whoa, are you way past your bedtime. Into bed with you miss Gilmore," chided my mom, shooing me off to bed.
Turning towards my room, I started shuffling down the hall.
"Mom?" I asked, and she turned around as though she was expecting me to say something.
"Yes?"
"I'm not falling for him. It's just some dumb little thing. Me and Dean won't have a pool boy in our mansion. We might not even have a pool, maybe we'll have a little ski resort though....."
She smiled, and waved me away. But I didn't miss what she muttered under her breath towards my retreating back.
"Sure you won't," said the first Lorelai Gilmore, and turned out the living room lights.
TRISTAN'S POV
She looked like a cross between a grumpy little kid and a sleepy fairy when I picked her up at 6 in the morning the next day; she curled up in the front seat of my Porsche, and her lips fell downwards in a pout.
"Times like these I wish you had a Navigator or something with a bed in the back."
"Sound the trumpets, alert the Franklin, notify the presses, Rory Gilmore just said she wishes my car had a bed in the back. Could this possibly mean....??"
Scowling at me, she snuggled up further into the seat.
"It means I'd love to sleep all the way there just so I don't have to put up with you."
"In that case," I replied dryly, "Maybe I should go home and get the Cadillac Escalade."
"Are you serious?" she yawned. Then, "Don't bother."
After a while, she fell into a light sleep, and I drove and watched her at the same time, almost crashing more than once. She was gorgeous when she slept, a moody princess, an impish fairy; her eyelashes swept her cheeks like butterfly wings, fluttering disturbed on occasion. She tossed and turned in the small space allowed her, and I smiled to myself. Coming to a stoplight, when I looked over, suddenly I had the desire to kiss her..........
Slowly, I leaned over, carefully watching her; I was so close, so...close..
The butterfly wings suddenly flew wide open; she watched me silently breathless for a second. Inches away from each other, we studied...analyzed, tried to breathe.......
"Hey, you are awake. I was about to...." I broke out awkwardly and abruptly leaned back, when she looked at me curiously, and frightened; her emotion indiscernible, I fought for a foothold.
"Kiss me?" she ended simply, and looked at me accusingly.
Sighing, I leaned my head back on the rest, staring at the ceiling.
"Yeah, maybe," I admitted, defeated and cautious, waiting for the bitter comment sure to come.
But what she said next froze my blood in my veins.
"Why didn't you?"
The light suddenly turned green; the tires screeched under us, and everything exploded. Calmly, I went back down to speed limit and stared straight and hard at the road. I had no answer, there was nothing I could say; anger and confusion and want crowded inside my head at once, and right when I was about to open my mouth....
"That was a good nap," she smiled, and stretched like a kitten. Flipping through my CD's, she popped in some blues and jazz singer. "Are we there yet?"
Letting the moment slide past me in defeat, I turned and smiled at her.
"30 minutes give or take. Depends on how many accidents you cause by turning heads, Mary."
Rolling her eyes, she giggled.
"Depending on how many accidents you get into by staring at blondes on the sidewalks."
"You caught me. So? Did you think it was possible to make shorts that short?"
"No," she admitted laughing. "But then, I wasn't really looking."
"Neither was I. I was examining the mailbox behind her. It was really......creative....boxy..."
"Whatever. And I'm Paris' best friend. What other outrageous lies do we have?"
"Louise is a virgin." I replied, amused.
"I hate coffee."
"We love Chilton. It's so much fun."
"I'm dyslexic, I don't read." she grinned.
"I actually know who PJ Harvey is." I responded.
"My name is Mary" she shot daggers at me.
"I'm never-been-kissed" I said.
She snorted in amusement. "More like never been dismissed."
"You forget Summer."
"Ah, the infamous bimbo who ditched you at Madeleine's party. Still miss her?"
A sharp stab of pain suddenly slid through me and dissapeared.
"Sure, whatever,......." I muttered, clenching the wheel.
"What's wrong?" she asked quickly, perceptive yet blind.
Sighing, I decided to just clear it up for once and for all.
"Rory, do you remember the night when we kissed on the piano bench?" I dropped the question bluntly, filling the car with a lead silence. Looking across at her, I saw the slight pallor in her face, then, the heat barely rising.
"Yes," she said best she could, looking out the window, starting to nervously gnaw on her nails.
"If I missed Summer, do you think I'd kiss you right after breaking up with her?"
She said nothing, just stared out the window, and I watched the road as we pulled up to another stoplight.
Everything made sense and didn't at the same time; I guessed by now she'd realized when I told her that I was still not over somebody else, that I hadn't meant Summer, that I'd probably meant her. I didn't want it to come out like this, I wanted it different........
Turning to me, suddenly she fixated her eyes on me earnestly.
"Tristan, whatever happened back then, it was back then. The summer's passed, it's a new year, we're trying to be friends, and Paris tolerates me, hell, even maybe kinda likes me. Let's just forget everything, alright? Start fresh...."
"Does fresh include acting like nothing ever happened?"
Frustrated, she looked at me pleadingly.
"Let's pretend it didn't. Let's pretend I'd never said I hate you, never kissed you, never played those mean games that we did and you never were the jerk you were. Let's pretend you didn't lie and say I was going to PJ Harvey with you, thus making Paris hate me. Let's pretend that you and me met this year, and here we are."
Silent, we sat there as the car speeded towards it's destination. Angrily, I shifted gears, making the motor growl.
"Let's pretend you didn't ask me why I didn't just kiss you."
"Good, let's pretend," she said, burying her head in her hands.
Pulling up to the huge library, suddenly I felt an overwhelming sadness and a slight sympathy for the girl torturing herself on the seat next to me. We were both lost...fools...helpless.....But, perhaps there was hope. Perhaps, this would yet turn out for the best.
"C'mon Mary, let's do some history," I said kindly, and stepped out to open her door.
Cheeks slightly flushed, she got out, and stood before me; managing a tentative smile, suddenly, she flung her arms around me in an apologetic hug.
"I'm sorry...." she murmured, her voice muffled in my shoulder. Stunned, I slowly wrapped my arms around her, and we shared a warm, innocent embrace that still managed to send slight shivers through me.
"I'm sorry too," I managed to reply, my face buried in her hair. Letting go, we backed away, and her eyes shone much brighter.
"C'mon Tristan, let's burn some witches," she grinned, and started up the cold, long timeworn steps.
I followed her, feeling happy for the first time in forever.
