10 Things I Hate About You
11 : Could (You Fall In Love With Me)
by inmyeyes


(Tuesday. After school. Chilton courtyard)

He had been avoiding her.

At first she didn't want to believe it, but when she saw him turn the other way when he saw her, it was hard to deny that he wasn't avoiding her.

Avoidance was something she couldn't handle, especially from Tristan. If she wasn't as hurt as she was, she would have been amused. The boy, who had actively sought her out for the last few months, the boy who had previously made her life as Chilton even more hell-ish that it already was, was leaving her alone.

He had been avoiding her, and she wouldn't stand for it.

She did admit, though, that he had been very good at it. The day before she had hardly seen him in the hallways, he wasn't at lunch, and he was somehow the last to arrive and the first to leave in the classes he shared with her. And those few moments when she did see him, he was surrounded by his group of friends and Rory knew better than to attempt to speak to him then.

That morning, she dropped a note into his locker, asking him to meet her at the courtyard, at "their" bench at 4 in the afternoon.

It was already 4.10.

'I should just leave.' But her feet remained planted on the ground, her fingers nervously playing with the hem of her plaid skirt. 'I'm sitting here, waiting for Tristan. Why am I here? I should just leave.' Of course, it figures that the moment she decided that she would leave, he'd appear.

A hand on her shoulder stopped her, and she knew who it was. Sure enough, she was right.

"Sorry, I'm late," he apologized, taking a seat next to her. "I had something to do."

"I didn't think you were coming."

"Why?"

"Tristan, you've been avoiding me," Rory exclaimed exasperatedly.

He was quick to deny it. "I was not."

"You were." Tristan's silence was enough to tell her that he knew it was true. She had to say what she wanted to say. "Look Tristan, I don't know what you think, but I want to go to Homecoming with you. I want to. You can't just spring that kind of question on me, I didn't expect it at all. But this little game you're playing might make me change my mind."

"I'm not playing any games with you!," he protested. "I never have."

"Has this got to do with Homecoming?"

"Of course not."

She saw through his lie. "Tristan, I still wanna go with you... if the offer's still up."

"Are you sure?"

She nodded affirmatively. "Positive. Are you sure? What about that girl, the one you like?"

Tristan smiled wryly. She still didn't get it. He was surprisingly all right with that; he knew that sooner or later she'd realize it... or he'd just confess to her. It didn't matter because for one night, they'd be together the way he wanted them to be. Whatever chance she threw his way, he'd take it.

Even if it was just one night.

*****

(Friday evening. Before the dance. Gilmore house)

"So... you and Hot Tristan are on a date," Lorelai commented, as she styled Rory's hair.

"Mom, can you not start on this?"

"Well, I'm still in shock. I didn't think you'd go to the dance, let alone with Hot Tristan."

Rory shrugged. "He asked me, so I said yes."

Lorelai smiled victoriously when she got the last bobby pin in place. "There you're done."

Rory took a look at herself in the mirror. The light blue dress she was wearing fell to her ankles, the full skirt making a swish-ing sound when she turned. Her hair was expertly pinned up by her mother, revealing the smooth skin of her shoulders and the straps of her dress that crossed her back.

"You look beautiful, honey. You're gonna blow him away."

"Thanks mom." Rory hugged her.

On cue, the doorbell rang. Lorelai smoothed down an errant piece of hair on Rory's head, told her to wait for a few minutes and went to answer the door.

That was when the nervousness kicked in. She was going to Homecoming with Tristan. It was a notion she had been trying to come to terms with ever since he had asked her. It wasn't that she regretted accepting his invitation... it was just that she was out of her depth with Tristan. He was out of her league, and it scared her because she didn't know what to expect from him.

She sat down gingerly at the edge of her bed, wringing her hands. She could faintly hear her mom talking to Tristan. The dormant butterflies in her stomach chose that moment to come to life. She wouldn't let her nerves get the best of her. With one last look in the mirror and an attempt to smile brightly, she made her way to the living room.

*****

Anticipation was going to kill him. He tried to seem nonchalant while Lorelai was talking to him, but he couldn't help his eyes from straying to the direction of Rory's room. He knew that Lorelai knew what he was thinking. She had a knowing smile on her face.

"You like her, don't you?" was her blunt question.

"More than she'll ever know." He figured there was no use hiding anything from Lorelai. "I'm nervous. And I'm never nervous." He let out a huge breath, almost relieved at his admittance.

Lorelai reached out and lightly squeezed his arm in reassurance. "It's fine. You guys are gonna have a great time."

Tristan hardly heard the encouraging words. He knew the moment Rory entered the room; his eyes had immediately gravitated to her. And his breath caught.

The blue of her dress made her azure eyes even more brilliant than usual, and the shy smile on her face added to her allure. He always knew she was beautiful, but this blew him out of the water.

"Hi Tristan."

He walked the short distance to where she stood, and lightly grasped her hand. He handed her the white rose he brought for her. "You look beautiful, Rory."

His compliment earned him a soft blush. "Thank you. So do you." Her blush deepened. The butterflies in her stomach fluttered wildly when he smiled at her. Her mind was still reeling from how good he looked; which was very, very very good. The suit he was wearing fit him perfectly, his blonde hair created a halo around his head but it was his smile that made her heart race. That, and the way he was looking at her. He had never looked at her that way before. Hell, no one had ever looked at her that way. It scared, and thrilled her at the same time.

Lorelai had to smile, noticing how the two teenagers were enamoured with each other but each was too scared to admit to it. "Ok, kids. You should make a move." She ushered the pair out of the house, and with well wishes for the night, she sent them on their way.

Something was going to happen that night, she just knew it. She only hoped that Rory wouldn't run away from it.

*****

(Venue of the dance: Chilton Hall)

"Have I mentioned how great you look?"

She turned to him, smiling brightly. "Not in the last 5 minutes."

He laughed. "You look great."

Her smile turned smug. "I know." Almost as an afterthought, she added, "So do you."

"I know."

Rory saw his smirk, and just shook her head. "You're so-"

"Charming? Handsome?"

"Overconfident."

"I'm not overconfident," he disagreed. "I just know what I want. And right now, I want to dance with my date." He held out his hand, and she took it. Both tried to ignore the tingly feeling that dance up their spine at the contact.

As they made their way to the makeshift dance floor, the song changed to a ballad, something that made Rory even more nervous than she already was. She didn't know how she could handle dancing so closely to Tristan when her hand was already burning from his touch.

Tristan almost groaned when he heard the new song start up. Of all the songs in the world, they just had to play the song that hit too close to home for him: Brian McKnight's "Back At One".

There was an awkward moment when they both stood there, not knowing exactly what to do. Finally, he reached out and put her arms around his neck, wrapped his own arms around her waist, then drew her close. At first, the awkwardness continued; Rory was searching her mind for something to say, whilst Tristan was trying to calm his racing heart.

'Come on Rory, say something... anything!' But her nerves were too frazzled; all she knew was the warmth of Tristan's touch on her back, her intoxicating scent of his cologne and the feel of his rapidly beating heart. She didn't even dare look at him because she knew that his eyes would only unnerve her even more.

"I need coffee," she mumbled.

Tristan chuckled when he heard her words. "I don't think you'll find any here, Ror."

"Drats!"

From then on, conversation flowed, and the pair became much more comfortable with each other. Rory relaxed in the circle of Tristan's arms and unknowingly moved closer to him, something that he instantly noticed. By the time the song ended, Rory's hands were playing with the hair at Tristan's nape, his arms were wrapped possessively around her waist and they were cheek to cheek.

Reluctantly, he pulled away from her when the beat of the song changed. Clasping hands, he led her though the crowd to the table where they could get some drinks. Before they could get there though, they were way-laid by Alexia.

"Hey guys," she said cheerily. "So, Tristan, you finally got the nerve to ask Rory, huh?" She winked. "I thought you'd never get around to it."

Rory shot him a puzzled look.

"Uh yeah... I finally got around to asking her."

And, finally, Rory understood. "We'll talk to you later, Alexia. There's something we need to do."

Alexia shrugged, smile still in place. "Ok sure. You guys have a good time."

After a hurried good-bye, Rory pulled on Tristan's hand, dragging him out of the hall and into an empty classroom.

This time, it was Tristan who was confused. "What's wrong, Rory?"

"We need to talk," she said, leaning her hip against the teacher's table. She wished that they would switch on some lights, but she didn't want to draw any attention to the room. In the moonlight and the light streaming in from the streetlights outside, she could barely make out Tristan. "Could you come closer, Tris?"

Never in a million years that Tristan ever expected to hear those words coming from Rory. He felt the urge to let out some smart-ass comment, but held himself back when he saw the serious look in her eyes. "Is something wrong?"

Rory shook her head, her hand reaching for his. "Tristan, there's nothing wrong. I just need to talk to you." She let out a nervous laugh. "It's just that I don't know where to start."

He reassuringly squeezed her hand.

She cleared her throat before venturing to speak. "You always meant to ask me, didn't you?"

He played dumb. "Excuse me?"

"To Homecoming. You always meant to ask me." It was a statement, not a question.

"I wanted to ask you. So, yes... I did mean to ask you," he admitted.

"Why?"

"Why not?" He ran his free hand through his hair. He knew that it was time to lay his cards on the table, to let everything out. He was scared as hell. But he knew he had to do this. She had to at least know what he felt. He leaned closer to her, grabbing both of her hands in his. "Rory, I like you." He took a deep breath. "I'm crazy about you." He fixed his eyes on hers. "I think you're amazing."

'He likes me? He's crazy about me? He thinks I'm amazing?' She didn't know, she had no clue.

"Oh, Tristan..." Even in the faint light, she saw his face fall slightly and she felt him slowly draw his hands away from hers.

"It's okay, Rory," he tried to smile as though it was okay, but he couldn't. It wasn't all okay, but he had to pretend it was. He had to. "It's fine. You don't have to say anything. I just wanted you to know. That's all." He took a step away from her, closing his eyes against the pain. He had expected this, had steeled himself against her possible reaction... but nothing compared to the heaviness of his heart. There was no way he could have prepared himself for this.

Then he felt her hand pulling him back to where he had been. He felt the soft touch of her hand on his cheek and couldn't help but lean into her palm.

"I didn't know. I'm sorry," she whispered.

"There was no way you could have known," he said, shaking his head ruefully. "Not with the way I treated you."

"Do you remember that night we kissed? At Madeline's party?"

Tristan let out a low laugh. "How could I forget? That was the single most amazing kiss in my life."

"Yeah," she sighed. "I know what you mean." She paused for a second. "It was a nice kiss."

At her words, he locked his eyes on hers and saw that she was smiling slightly at him. "Yeah?"

Her smile widened as she remembered the conversation. "Very nice. Not at all crying material."

Tristan's grin turned mischievous. "Really?"

"Absolutely." Rory nodded.

"Wanna try it again?" he asked teasingly.

Her hand that had been resting against his cheek felt his smile widen. Moving closer to him, she curled her arms around his neck and lightly ran his fingers through his hair. Involuntarily, he raised his arms to rest around her waist, his eyes watching as she licked her lips.

"Definitely."

An instant later, his lips had swooped down on hers, igniting the same feelings she had experienced during that short first kiss; only this time the effect was tenfold. She was aware of nothing else but him and the crazy butterflies that were going berserk in her stomach. She tightened her arms around his neck and felt him reciprocate the gesture when he pulled her closer to him.

At first, the kiss had a frantic, desperate quality to it, as though he couldn't believe that he was kissing her, as though he thought that this would be the last time he'd be able to kiss her, as though he thought she could pull away. But when she responded eagerly, his lips gentled as his arms cradled her possessively in his embrace. It seemed like he couldn't get enough of her.

It was true; he couldn't get enough of her. Kissing Rory made him feel alive. He wanted to brand her with his kisses, stake his claim on her, because he couldn't bear the thought of her kissing anyone else, of not being with her. One night wasn't enough anymore... he wanted this feeling to last for more than just one night.

The kiss was... everything and so much more.

Reluctantly, Tristan was the first to pull away, trying to catch his breath. He rained tiny kisses on her face: along her jaw, on her nose, on her eyelids.

"It wasn't just a fluke... the way you made me feel the last time," Rory remarked softly, running her fingers along his jaw.

"It wasn't," Tristan agreed. He lowered his voice slightly. "You make me feel this way all the time."

It was at that moment, when he smiled at her in that special way he had, his eyes shining, his arms protectively around her... it was at that moment when she felt that she could fall in love with him.