04 : Stars Hollow
by inmyeyes
(Stars Hollow)
Their laughter tapered off as the car came to a stop in front of Luke's. With a bright smile, Rory turned to Tristan. Her breath caught as she realised that she had caught him in an unguarded moment. Everything about him seemed different somehow. The blazer and tie were gone, and the top two buttons of the blue Chilton shirt were undone. His hair seemed to be even more messy than usual. She noticed that the corners of his bright blue eyes crinkled when he laughed. He looked.... carefree.
And when he turned and caught her eye, she blushed at the embarrassment of being caught staring at him and also at the intensity of his gaze.
It was at that moment that Rory realised that she didn't know all that there was to Tristan DuGrey. She also admitted that she wanted to know him.
She was expecting a teasing comment from Tristan for staring at him, but the comment never came. Instead, the smile never left his face and Rory found herself staring at the tiny dimples that were clearly seen. She had never noticed that before... Her thoughts broke off when she felt a light, heated touch on her cheek before the same hand tucked her hair behind her ears, lingering there for a second too long. She looked up, catching Tristan's eyes again. This time, the smile had been replaced by a....tender expression.
Tender? Tristan? It baffled her.
To diffuse her thoughts, she blurted out the first thing that came to mind, "Wanna get some coffee?"
*****
(Inside Luke's)
"Whose car is Rory getting out of? Who's the boy with her?" Luke demanded, cutting off Lorelai's pleas for more coffee.
"What?" Surprised, Lorelai turned around in her stool to peer out the glass windows. Sure enough, Rory was getting out of a silver Corvette and with her, was a boy. Wearing a Chilton uniform. She watched with interest as the two of them seemingly bantered back and forth, laughing every few seconds. The fact that Rory was smiling as though Christmas had come early did not escape her notice.
When they entered the diner, she called out, "Mini-Me!", complete with her pinkie at the corner of her mouth. She caught the bemused expression on the boy's face as the pair walked towards her.
"Hi Mom." Rory gave her mother a hug, before turning to Tristan. "This is Tristan. He gave me a ride home today."
Lorelai had a speculative expression on her face. "Tristan? Evil Tristan? Bible Boy?" She smirked. "Where's the horns? Or the fork? Or the red cape? Or is he undercover now? Oooh, maybe-"
"Mom." Lorelai caught the warning tone and stuck her tongue out at Rory.
Tristan held out his hand and grinned cheekily, "The spawn of Satan. Nice to meet you, Miss Gilmore."
"Psssh," she waved her hand dismissively, "None of that Miss stuff. It's Lorelai." She gave him an appraising look. "So you're Tristan...."
Rory did not like the way her mother was scrutinizing Tristan. She had that gleam in her eye that meant she was thinking something. Before she could say do anything , Tristan jumped in.
"Not just Tristan, " he paused and smirked, knowing the type of response that Rory was expecting, "Evil Tristan." He turned to Rory. "I didn't know you had bestowed that honour on me. Shame on you for not telling me."
Rory didn't hesitate. "You didn't know? I didn't know you were that blind, Tris."
"I'm not the one who's blind, " he muttered and he turned his eyes away from Lorelai when he realised that she had heard him. He did what he did best when he was embarrassed: he changed the subject. "So, can we get coffee?"
"Score 1 for evil boy!" Lorelai beamed, pumping her fist in the air and smiling triumphantly at Luke. He gave a sigh of defeat and poured out the coffee.
"So what are you kids up to? Any evil deeds up your sleeve?" The last question was directed at Tristan, who merely shrugged.
"We've got no plans," Rory clarified, but frowned as she remembered the pile of work she had to do. "Wait, scratch that, I have a date with Shakespeare."
"Wow, that's new information. I know you're a fan of Shakespeare. That's all I know... you haven't been bringing me up to date, missy," Lorelai wagged her finger at Rory.
"More than a fan, we're involved."
A gasp escaped from Tristan. "Involved? What about us?" He clutched his heart in mock pain.
"There is no us, Tristan." The words were spoken teasingly, but Tristan struggled to hide his wince at her words. Rory faced her mom and adopted a sympathetic tone, "Not only is he blind, but deluded as well. He needs more coffee."
"Woah, I think I've had enough."
Both Gilmore girls turned accusing eyes on him. "You can never have enough," Lorelai protested as she reached behind the counter for the coffee pot and poured more for Tristan, Rory and herself before Luke could stop her. "Don't be spouting such nonsense, evil boy. For your sin, you will....." Lorelai tapped her fingers against the countertop while she thought of a suitable punishment for him. "You will have to sit through 'Dirty Dancing' with us!"
"Mom! I have homework," Rory protested, trying to ignore the fact that her mother just invited Tristan to watch a movie with them at their house.
"Pshaw. Forget homework. Forget Shakespeare.... hello Patrick Swayze!" Lorelai let out a dreamy sigh, as she clutched her cup of coffee tightly.
Tristan had been watching Rory and knew that she was uncomfortable with the idea. He didn't want to push his luck. They had just started being friends again, and he didn't want to hurt that. "I don't think-"
"Oh no, evil boy... you have to come. You've been sentenced to watching 'Dirty Dancing' for speaking such words of sin against coffee. You must be punished." Lorelai's tone meant business.
Tristan let out a nervous sigh. "Are you ok with this, Rory?" he asked quietly.
Rory managed to smile. "Yeah, at least I'll have someone sane with me when she decides to get up and follow the moves in the movie." Her smile widened, "On one condition: Shakespeare gets jealous pretty easily, so it's not my fault if he comes after you."
Tristan laughed. "Ok, I accept my punishment."
As they left the diner, Lorelai
let out a sly grin. She had a feeling that she'd be seeing more of Tristan
in future. Much more.
