06 : Flirting
by inmyeyes
(The next day. Chilton)
As she neared her locker, she was surprised to find it void of Tristan's presence. She brushed aside the pang of disappointment that sprang in her chest, bypassed her locker and hurried to her first class. All the while, her eyes were searching the hallways for him.
She almost gasped in surprise when she saw his familiar form already in the classroom, perched on a desk, looking as though he was flirting with Alexia Carter, the girl who "hates him when the fire of a thousand suns".
"Well, I guess it's a cloudy day today," she muttered sarcastically as she made her way to her seat, without passing by the pair. As she settled herself, she tore her eyes away from them and focused on her book.
She did, however, notice that Tristan was in full-flirting mode: leaning towards her, a half-smile on his chiseled features, touching her arm ever so often and laughing gaily. She had seen him in action before but this was bothering her more than it should. It bothered her to see him this way after the great time they had the night before, after seeing him be so unlike the usual Tristan.
Her heart gave a silent sigh as she feigned interest in her book. When Tristan passed her desk to get to his, he gave her a cheery "Hi Rory!" complete with the smile that she had seen yesterday. When she looked up and saw his expression, her heart lurched and unbidden, she reciprocated the smile and returned the greeting.
Rory finally made her way to her locker at the end of the second period to dump her heavy books there. She was pleasantly surprised when the familiar aroma of coffee hit me.
Inside her locker was a large cup of Starbucks coffee. With it was a post-it note that simply read, 'I had the time of my life.'
With a wide smile and a slight shake of her head, she pulled off the post-it, stuck it in her bag and chugged the already-cold coffee.
'He must have put it there before school,' she mused.
She couldn't believe he had done that for her.
*****
(After school. Outside Chilton)
"Thanks for the coffee," Rory said as Tristan sat beside her on the bench that they had come to call their own.
"You're welcome," he smiled widely.
"I only found it after the second period and it was already cold," she shrugged. "But coffee is coffee. So thanks." She didn't allow Tristan to speak and went right on. "So what's with Alexia and you?"
"What? Nothing."
"It's never nothing when it comes to you. There must have been something. You two were talking... oh wait, sorry, I meant flirting."
"How would you know?" he challenged.
"I know flirting when I see it," she answered confidently, returning the look he was giving her. She tilted her chin up. "I saw the way you were talking to her, the way you were looking at her and the way you smiled." Tristan couldn't quite believe that she had been watching him that closely. "You were definitely flirting."
He laughed. "I was just being friendly."
Rory held her ground. "You were flirting."
"No, I wasn't," Tristan disagreed. He moved closer to Rory and practically trapped her between the arm rest and his body. Then he leaned forward slightly, locking his eyes with her slightly shocked gaze. He reached out to lightly caress her cheek, before pushing her silky hair back behind her ear. He let his hand linger there for a while, then slowly pulled it away. Then he moved closer, and whispered, "That was flirting."
Rory's breath had caught in her throat the moment he had cornered her and she couldn't seem to find the will to push him away. She sat as still as a rock while Tristan overwhelmed her with his closeness and caused her senses to go into overdrive. Her eyes fluttered as she felt the warmth of his hand against her cheek. And when his husky voice whispered intimately in her ear, she shut her eyes, held onto the armrest with a death grip and tried desperately to stop the shivers in her spine. It was no use, though; every single cell in her body was attuned to him.
Tristan slowly moved away and assumed a nonchalant position, hoping that he hadn't crossed a line with her.
Rory took a deep breath to try and regain her composure before speaking. "Ok, so you weren't flirting with her. Still, what was that all about?"
"I told you, nothing. I was just talking to her."
Rory didn't believe a word of what he was saying. "Yeah, uh-huh... sure... that's all you were doing."
The smirk that crossed his features put Rory on her guard. "Are you jealous, Mary?" he teased. He leaned back on the bench and watched her squirm uncomfortably under his scrutiny.
"I am not," she protested, albeit weakly. She looked down and let her hair form a curtain around her reddened cheeks.
"It's okay, you don't have to be," he reassured in a confident tone. He leaned down to her level and brushed her hair aside before lifting her chin up so that their eyes met. He lowered his voice to a soft whisper, "I only have eyes for you, Rory."
She didn't know what to make of his words. Was he serious? Was he just teasing her? After a few seconds, his eyes still didn't reveal anything. She made a grab for her bag. "I- I have to go.... can't miss my bus."
He knew that he had unsettled her, confused her, and made her think and seeing her flustered brought a smile on his face. "Yeah... see you tomorrow."
"Yeah, bye," was her quick response before she walked as quickly as she could away from him.
*****
(Stars Hollow)
Rory heaved a sigh of relief when she saw Lane waiting for her at the bus stop. The moment she stepped off the bus, she handed Lane the yellow post-it that she had been staring at the entire way home. "He left me coffee, and that note in my locker."
Lane gave a perplexed look to her best friend who was sitting next to her on the bench. "I'm sorry, but I'm neither a mind-reader nor a psychic."
Rory just groaned. "And he told me that he only has eyes for me."
Lane was definitely intrigued. "Who's this boy? Rory?"
She just groaned again and
leaned her head on her friend's shoulder. "I need coffee."
