Author's Note: Okay here is the next chapter! This is REALLY long and I apologize for it. I know that people don't like reading fics that drone on forever but I didn't want to split this into separate chapters.

Chapter 9

"Dean!" Rory exclaimed in surprise.

"What's your problem!?" Tristan shouted, getting up from the ground. Lane was frozen in shock and Jess looked around worriedly.

~Don't move unless he gets out of hand.~ he silently told himself. ~Remain normal unless he gets out of hand.~

Jess looked around again, the town had stopped what they were doing to watch, a few of them fidgeting nervously.

Lorelai and Luke stood just outside the diner, Lorelai held Luke back as he tried to rush forward. She looked him in the eye and shook her head slightly.

"Wait for it. Don't interfere unless necessary." she whispered.

"I need to talk to you!" Dean said angrily, ignoring Tristan's question and grabbing Rory roughly by the arm.

"Let go of me!" she ordered twisting out of his grasp.

"So, I'm guessing bag boy just found out." Luke said as they watched the scene.

"Yeah, guess the rumor mill was slacking off today, I thought for sure he'd have jumped Tristan sooner." Lorelai agreed.

"What are you doing with him?" Dean spat angrily.

"I'm showing him around town." Rory replied calmly.

"Why is he here?! You told me you hated him! Did you mean anything you said that day?" he asked looking in her eyes.

"Obviously not." Rory replied, a trace of anger in her eyes.

"He's just trying to get in your pants!" Dean exclaimed furiously.

"What kind of a person do you think I am? You obviously have a very high standard of me, don't you?!" she said sarcastically.

"I'm just trying to protect you." he said lowering his voice and looking in her eyes.

He searched her face, trying to find anything in her eyes that might say she didn't mean all of what she had just said. He looked for any hope that said that she did love him, that she wanted him back, but he couldn't read her anymore. He used to be able to see what she was thinking but now she had closed herself off. That made him angry.

"It's not you're job to protect me anymore." she said softly but in a clear voice.

A tense silence cut the air, the whole town was watching but they didn't dare speak. They kept their eyes glued on the action happening just a few feet south of the gazebo.

Rory understood the thoughts going through his head, he had still left himself open to her. She remained closed as she felt his eyes searching her. As Dean's eyes turned angry she shuddered. He realized he had lost her and now he was mad. She saw a flicker in his eyes, she knew that flicker, she had seen it once before. Rory looked at Jess for a split second, in one brief moment she conveyed all the information he needed. She was worried, Dean was going to do something but she told him to wait until she gave him a signal. Two seconds later it came.

"Jess!" she screamed. As the name left her mouth Dean spun around and took a swing at Tristan.

Jess moved and caught Dean's fist in his. Dean fought against Jess to get to Tristan.

"Hey! Accountant! Do you know why you're here?" he shouted.

"Lane!" Jess shouted, clamping a hand over Dean's mouth.

Lane whistled loudly and hurriedly tried to pull Tristan away from the scene as those fidgety townspeople from before where shaken out of their stupor and advanced on the struggling Dean.

"She's planning something!" Dean shouted as he wrenched away from Jess.

Tristan barely heard what was being said as Lane, Lorelai, and Miss Patty all talking loudly, pulled him away. Dean ran forward to chase Tristan but Jess tackled him to the ground. He held him in place until Luke, Taylor, Kirk, and a few others took Dean away in a matter of seconds. Rory stood dumbfounded, those specific people who were standing nearby came out to subdue Dean, it was like they had planned it. Jess saw Rory's confused look as he walked over to her. "You had this planned?" she asked quietly.

"Yeah." he couldn't judge her emotions, she was clouded, he couldn't tell if she was angry or not.

"The whole town was in on it. Everyone knew, they were all ready." Rory stated.

"Yeah, except for you and Dean. And Tristan of course."

"Thank you!" she exclaimed and threw her arms around his neck. At first he was shocked but then relaxed into a hug.

"That's what brothers are for." Jess said with a smile.

"We're going to be cousins, not brother and sister." she said.

" Technically yes, but you'll always be a sister to me." Jess argued, pulling away to look her in the eyes.

"You'll always be a brother to me." Rory replied softly.

Jess just smiled, "Come on, let's go see how wonder boy is doing."

With one arm around her shoulder's Jess walked with Rory to the diner. They tried to walk to the counter but the diner was crowded with as many townspeople as the place could fit. All of them were trying to get to Tristan to see if he was all right, Lorelai and Lane were attempting to protect him.

"Back off people! It's over! He's all right! He didn't even get hit!" they heard Lorelai scream. "Out! Out! Don't make me get out the spatula!"

Rory and Jess laughed. No one made a move to leave. "That's it! You leave me no choice!" Lorelai jumped over the counter and grabbed a spatula from the kitchen. She jumped back over the counter and started swinging at everyone, forcing them to move back.

"Everyone get out!" Luke yelled from the door. He had returned from taking Dean away to find that he couldn't even get into his own diner. "Leave, now!"

Knowing there was no point to arguing, everyone cleared out with the exception of a few genuine customers.

"Why is it that whenever I leave you alone for a few minutes I come back to find you holding my spatula?" Luke asked Lorelai.

"I don't know, something about it attracts me to it. I was thinking of running away with it. Mr. Spatula, Spat, Spatty...hey!" Lorelai objected as Luke plucked the object from her hands.

"You are not naming my cooking utensils!" Luke argued as he walked back behind the counter.

"But it's so much more than a utensil!" Lorelai whined.

Ignoring Lorelai's last comment Luke turned to Tristan. "You okay kid?"

"Yeah, but what was that? Do you guys have some sort of secret police?" he asked confused.

They all looked at each other. "Well..." Rory began.

"Kind of." Lorelai interrupted. "We knew Dean would freak out when he saw you so we prepared for an attack." ~He's allowed to know at least that.~ Lorelai thought silently. "Wherever you go there are undercover townies who are ready to defend you. Makes you feel special, huh?" Lorelai asked playfully.

"I must say, your town knows how to rise to an occasion." Tristan said, shaking his head in disbelief and amusement.

"If you think that's amazing you should see our parties." Lane supplied.

Friday afternoon...

Rory rested her head against the cool metal of her locker. The week of non-stop homework and party preparations had taken its toll. While the rest of Stars Hollow would be decorating the town square for the party, she would be getting much needed sleep. She had made a deal with the grandparents, they would skip this week's Friday dinner, and instead would spend the day in Stars Hollow. She didn't tell them why for fear that somehow all of Hartford society would find out about the bash. Lorelai would tell them when they showed up tomorrow morning.

She and Tristan had finished the project a day early so they walked around town instead. Everyone afterwards asked her questions, which she tried to answer as best she could, about what Tristan might like as a gift. She was exhausted but soon all her hard work would pay off. She let out a sigh and closed her eyes.

"Hey Mare."

"Hey Tris." Rory turned around and smiled despite her lack of energy.

"Still can't think of a name for me?" Tristan asked, taking up the same position against the lockers.

"Nope, still working on it." she replied. "Hey, what are you doing tomorrow?"

"Probably just driving around. I don't think I could stand being around the house while my parents chat up with the rest of high society." he looked down sadly. Why did he always let his guard down when she was around?

"Well, I'm going to my grandparents' house in the morning." she lied. "Why don't I swing by your place afterwards, say 11 o'clock, and we could hang out. Maybe even go back to Stars Hollow for dinner?" she suggested hopefully.

"I'd like that." Tristan answered, his heart lifting at the prospect of spending time with Rory and her town.

Even though Stars Hollow was kind of kooky, he wouldn't have it any other way. Whenever he was with them, he felt welcomed, loved even. Not the phony love, like the kind he felt when girls flocked to him because of his status, the real love felt when someone sees him as Tristan, not the crowned prince of the DuGrey family fortune, but Tristan, a real guy. The more he thought about it, the more he realized he didn't give the town of Stars Hollow any reason to love him, yet they did. ~Rory, it has to do with Rory.~ he thought. ~But she'll never be yours. Stop it! Stop thinking that! You're a DuGrey, you're not supposed to love anyone!~

"So, do you need a ride home?" Tristan asked in order to snap himself out of his thoughts.

"No, I'm catching a ride home with Henry."

"Cho?" Tristan asked curiously.

"Yeah, do you know him?" Rory asked innocently. She knew Tristan knew Henry.

"Yeah, we used to be best friends. We grew apart when we hit high school. I wish I could fix that but it's been too long. I wasn't exactly great to him. I wouldn't be surprised if he never wanted to talk to me again." he looked down again. "How do you know him?"

"Met him at Madeline's party. He's Lane's boyfriend. That, and he's been an official Stars hollow resident ever since the town adopted him."

"Really?"

"Yeah, he's even allowed to vote on town matters."

There was a silence between them.

"So, I'll see you tomorrow?" Tristan asked suddenly.

"Yeah, later." she waved as he walked off. When he was out of sight she closed her eyes again.

"Do you want to sleep during the drive home?" Henry asked as he approached.

"Yes, please." Rory answered not bothering to open her eyes. The hall was nearly empty now and the general silence was lulling her to sleep.

"Rory!" Henry said loudly with a laugh. She jumped up, fully awake.

"What?!" she asked crankily.

"Do you want to go now?"

"Yeah, hold on, let me get my books." Rory replied. She turned around, opened her locker, and started taking out the books she needed. "Hey, thanks for helping out with the party. Especially with the decorating tonight."

"Why wouldn't I? I'm a Stars Hollow resident now aren't I? Plus, Tris is...was my friend. It's time to fix things. If he wants to that is." Henry said.

Rory stopped and turned to him. "Trust me, he wants to." She pulled him into a hug.

"So, both Lane and Jess called to inform me of the run in with Dean."

Rory sighed and pulled back from the hug. "Dean is the only one, the only one in the entire town of Stars Hollow who doesn't understand."

"Okay, sensing this is a touchy subject, moving on. Is the surprise part of the bash taken care of?"

"Yeah, I'm going to pick him up in the morning, we'll drive around for a few hours, then when we've used up enough gas we'll head home. If my calculations are accurate tomorrow we'll run out of gas just outside town."

"Then you guys walk into town, all the lights will be dead of course until someone flips them on, and we all yell surprise." Henry finished. "Did anyone ever tell you that you take a long time at your locker?"

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that. This party will be great!" Rory said as she shut her locker and the two turned around.

"What party?"

"Paris!" Rory exclaimed nervously. She and Henry turned around to find themselves face to face with the aforementioned Geller.

"I repeat, what party?" Paris asked again but this time in a softer almost pained voice.

"We'll tell you but not here, it's not safe." Rory whispered looking around suspiciously.

"Come on, to the car." Henry said, dragging the two girls with him.

Luckily Henry parked in a corner, separated from "enemy" ears. Rory threw her backpack down on the ground and braced herself.

""Okay Paris, if we tell you, you have to promise not to tell anyone!" Rory warned.

"Yeah, not Madeline, not Louis, not anyone." Henry added with emphasis.

"If anyone else from Chilton finds out, not only will everything be ruined but my town will be in danger. Well, not really, actually any Chiltonite would be in danger cuz my town is kind of weird..."

"Ror, you're rambling." Henry gently reminded her.

"Sorry."

"I promise I won't tell." Paris assured them.

"We, the whole town of Stars Hollow, is throwing Tristan a surprise birthday party tomorrow." Rory said quickly, wincing as she waited for an onslaught of angry jabs. They never came.

"How do they know Tristan?" Paris asked curiously.

"Well, he came over every day this past week to work on our bio lab." Rory answered.

"So, he walked around your town, yet no one spilled the secret?" Paris asked skeptically.

"What can I say? For being the biggest bunch of talkers on the planet, they did good." Rory answered proudly, Henry nodded in agreement.

"So, what time?" Paris questioned.

"You wanna come?" Rory asked in shock. "I mean, I want you to, but I thought you were kind of...anti-social."

Paris shrugged her shoulders. "Might not be so bad."

"Well, okay!" Henry exclaimed enthusiastically.

"The party starts at five but you have to be there at 4:30 cuz it's a surprise and we need you to get there before Tristan does." Rory informed her. "You still remember how to get there right?"

"Yeah." Paris replied.

"Oh, and you might want to consider spending the night there. You can stay at the inn." Henry suggested.

"Why?"

"Because, knowing Stars Hollow, they won't stop partying till 2 in the morning, and believe me, they won't let you leave till they're good and ready to let you go. By then you'll be too tired to drive home." Henry explained from experience.

"Is this the inn from the dinner with the all the anachronisms?" Paris asked.

"Yeah." Rory assured her.

"Well, will there be a room available?"

"Yeah, don't worry, my mom set aside a whole wing for any Chilton guests, you'll have plenty of rooms to chose from. And, if not then you can always stay at my house." Rory offered.

"Although, you might not be at your house." Henry reminded her. "We might have a little after party at the inn." he explained to Paris. "Nothing loud or anything, just something to help us fall asleep. Trust me, when Lorelai is involved there will be a lot of coffee and sugar at the party too."

"Okay, I just have to clear it with my mom first but I think that it'll be okay." Paris answered.

"Great, see you tomorrow then." Henry said.

Rory sighed and tiredly leaned back against the hood of Henry's car as Paris hurried off.

"You need to sleep." Henry said shaking his head.

"I am sleeping." Rory replied sleepily with her eyes closed.

"I meant inside the car."

"Too tired." she mumbled.

Henry sighed and opened the passenger side door. After he tossed his and Rory's backpacks into the backseat he walked around to the front.

"You work yourself too hard." Henry told her. When she didn't respond he sighed again, picked her up and placed her in the car. "But it's all worth it." he said to himself.

He hurriedly closed her door, and got in on the other side. He smiled at her sleeping form as he drove off towards Stars Hollow.

IMPORTANT: I'm having a contest! You can chose Tristan's nickname! Originality is expected. The winner gets an advance copy of chapter 10 (lame prize but give me a break). Be sure to review and include the nickname and your email address. Keep in mind that if I don't see an entry I like, no one will win and I'll be forced to come up with something myself. Good luck all! Oh, and wish me luck on my finals next week!