Prelude
Rory awoke to almost complete silence. The only thing she could hear was the feint ticking of her watch on the night stand. The shades were down, so there was no way to tell if it was day or night out. She rolled over and squinted to see what her watch said. At first she couldn't tell the difference between twelve thirty and six o'clock. Than it became clearer. It was six.
She groaned and got up. She shuffled into the empty kitchen and turned on the coffee. She looked around. She hated being alone in the house. Her mom was at some inn convention for two weeks, Lane was at a family reunion, and her and Dean weren't exactly buddy buddy. After the episode at Chilton's court yard, they dated through out the summer, but Rory broke it off. She didn't like him that way anymore, and she couldn't go on lying to herself, and to Dean. Things were just different.
To make matters worse. The two weeks that her mother would be gone. Chilton had a vacation. So pretty much she was alone for two weeks. Fun! Lorelai asked if she wanted to stay with Rory's grandparents, but Rory quickly answered that she was willing to stay home alone instead.
It was now Saturday. The first day of vacation, and she planned on going back to Chilton. She was going to go to the library and browse for some books to read while she had plenty of time to.
Chapter One:
Rory walked into Chilton and headed for her locker. She needed to pick up a book she left there to study a little. She than walked into the library, which was conveniently not too far from her locker. She spent a lot of time at the library. Lunches, keeping away from Paris' evil glares, and avoiding Tristan. Tristan. She had really missed him. He didn't banter with her anymore. He actually rarely spoke to her since she made up with Dean at the courtyard. And well, she actually wished they could have a second chance at being friends.
She found her table and put her backpack down. She went to the first row of books and started walking up and down the aisles plucking four books before she even finished the first row. When she was only half way through the rows, she had to go back to the table to put the books down, they were weighing her down. But before she did, she spotted a book she had been searching for weeks. "Yes!" She grabbed it as someone tapped her on the shoulder. She gasped and dropped all the books before turning to see whom it was. "Tristan!" She was shocked. He was the last person she'd expect to be at the library during vacation. She'd think he'd be out with girls partying day and night or at some country club. But he wasn't, he was at the library. Conveniently at the same time as Rory was.
"Mary, careful." He knelt down and picked up the books. He hadn't called her Mary since last year. And this surprised her that he had again. She thought that he'd never talk to her….but she felt a need to smile. When he looked up she erased the smile from her face. She didn't want him to see it. "Tristan, you scared me. Don't ever do that to me again!" Her hand was still on her heart from the surprise. She grabbed her books from his hands and put them under her arm. "Thanks." She said softly and turned around to walk to the table.
Tristan followed suit. She stopped and turned back to him. "Did you need something?" She asked.
"Nope." They kept walking and finally got to the table. She plopped the books into her bag. She wasn't going to look for anymore. She needed to save some books for the rest of the Chilton year. Plus, she had enough for the two weeks. She swung the bag on her shoulder, only to find that it was EXTREMELY heavy. Tristan laughed and took the bag in his hand. As if weighing like a feather, he swung in over his shoulder with one hand. "Lemme help ya with that." She grinned at her. She knew that that was the only way that she'd get the books out of the school so she just nodded in defeat. They walked out of the library silently. "So how are you getting home?" Tristan finally asked.
"Bus. How else?" She looked up at him.
"Well…how about I give you a ride?" She stopped and he stopped to face her. "Anything wrong?" He asked.
"Yea…. I have a question. Why are you all of a sudden talking to me? And being nice?"
"What, I can't help a friend out?" He asked, raising his hands.
"Friend??" Rory's mouth dropped and Tristan laughed. He stepped closer and closed her mouth with his hand.
"Yeah. Friend." She smiled at him and they walked to Tristan's car. They were silent as they drove from Chilton's parking lot. It felt awkward for both of them. They each wanted to start a conversation, but nothing seemed right. After about three minutes of silence, they started talking about music. And well, playful banter surely erupted from that!
(At the Gilmore House)
They pulled into the Gilmore Driveway and Tristan shut the car off. Rory watched him do so. "So how come your mom hasn't run out here yet to see who I was?" He grinned at her.
"Well…. you see, my mom is out of town for the next two weeks. I'm alone." She looked down at her ring and then back up to him. He smiled at her.
"Well, aren't you afraid?" He asked.
"Not really…" She answered.
"Uhuh. Now tell me another one!" He laughed.
"Well…"
"That's what I thought." There was a moment of silence. "So why don't you invite bagboy Dean over?" His face showed no sign of a smile; it showed the sign of pain.
Rory looked down again. "Because…because we broke up a while ago." She looked up to see Tristan's expression. He tried to hide the happiness inside but a small smile shown through. "That should make you happy." She smiled slightly at him.
"Actually more than you know." He said up to her ear. Almost touching it. Rory felt her cheeks turn red, and Tristan laughed at this. "Hey, how about I walk you to your door." He asked changing the subject. Rory wasn't getting his hints. She would have to start or he'd have to get a little more up front about them.
She nodded to him and they opened their doors. They met together in front of the car and walked up to the porch. "So do you wanna come in for some coffee, or something?" She asked.
"Uh…yeah, sure. Why not." He smiled at the invite and followed Rory inside and to the kitchen. Rory started making the coffee after she motioned for him to have a seat at the table. He sat and watched Rory work. She was looking in all the cabinets and every drawer.
"Do you need help with anything?" He whispered into her ear. She stopped. She didn't realize that he had come up behind her.
"Uh…uh… no…that's okay. Um…" She managed out. She felt tingles go through her body at how close he actually was.
"You don't sound too sure about that one." He looked at her and smiled a genuine smile. Not a smirk, a real smile. She turned around to face him.
"Why would you say that?"
"Well…" He was about to answer when the phone rang. They turned to look towards the sound. The base of the phone was there, but the phone wasn't
"Great. Now I have to find it!"
"Well, usually it'd be right there."
"Yea, not in a house where my mother lives!" She laughed and they headed into the living room.
"Can I help?" He asked Rory who was searching through a laundry basket.
"Yea, sure. Grab a pile." They dug until Tristan finally found the missing phone. He through it towards her and she picked it up. "Hello… oh hi mom." Rory sat down next to Tristan on the couch. He was flipping through one of the magazines on the table. "Yeah, I'm fine. Uhuh. Yea, I found it in a pile in the living room. Uhuh. We really have to attempt to clean this one of these days when you get back. Uhuh. Yeah, I'll believe it when I see it mom."
"Ooh… How to get your hair to flow just right!" Tristan whispered. Rory giggled.
"No mom. Yeah…Tristan…yes THAT Tristan. Yeah, he gave me a ride from the library today. Coffee… okay mom I got to go. Yes…Love you too. Bye." She hung up the phone and looked at Tristan.
"So I'm THAT Tristan?" He smirked not even looking up from the magazine.
"Yeah."
"So that means you've talked about me." The smirk was still there.
"Don't let your ego grow just yet. It wasn't good things."
"Well is there going to be good talk of me any time soon?" He asked looking up and into Rory's equal blue eyes.
"Maybe… you're just going to have to wait and see about that one. I'll get back to ya." She grabbed another magazine and flipped through it. The coffee started to boil so she ran in the kitchen and returned with two mugs of steamy coffee. "Mmmm… coffee!" She smelled the brew in front of her and smiled. Tristan laughed at her addiction and began to sip his. They continued to look through the magazines.
"Oh!"
"What's that?" She asked.
"A quiz. How to know if he's dropping hints." He looked at Rory and their eyes met again. This time it had meaning. Tristan knew she understood what he meant.
"Oh." She said, but didn't turn away. His eyes were mesmerizing and beautiful.
"Yeah. Why haven't you taken the quiz yet?" Their eyes still locked.
"Um… I don't know."
Chapter Two
They finished reading their magazines and after the awkward revealing moment, they were silent once again. "So." Tristan began.
"So…"
"What now?" He asked.
"Um… I don't know."
"What are you doing today?" He asked her.
"Um… absolutely nothing."
"Uhuh."
"What did that uhuh mean?"
"Nothing. Just an uhuh." He smiled at her.
"Uhuh."
"Well, do you wanna see a movie or something?" He asked. "Seeing as how we both are home alone for the vacation with nothing to do. We should do something together. You know one lonely to another."
"Um... okay yea, sure. Lemme just go and change." He nodded and got up and helped her to her feet. "You know I'm a big girl and don't need supervision." She laughed.
"Funny Gilmore, but I was actually going to ask you if I could use your bathroom. But if you really want me to help, just give me a holler." She motioned to the bathroom.
"Very funny." They went their separate ways. When Tristan was through with the bathroom, he walked into the kitchen and got a drink of water. Rory was still changing so he figured she was almost done.
But, in her room, Rory was going through all of her clothes looking for the right outfit to wear. Lorelei was usually the one who helped her with this, but she wasn't anywhere close to help. She looked at the phone and was deciding whether to call her mother or just use her own judgement. She decided to call Lorelei. She dialed the number and waited for an answer. Lorelei's answering machine picked up. "Sorry, can't help you now. Call later, business meeting…leave a message."
"Mom, I just called to ask you what to wear to the movies with Tristan…yes you heard my right. Well since your not there, I have to pick out my own clothes! Love ya, bye" She hung up the phone and picked a nice purple tee with low jeans and left the room. She found Tristan in the kitchen drinking some water.
"You ready?" He asked with a grin.
"Yup. You?" She asked.
"I'm always ready." They got up and they walked to Tristan's BMW. He held the door open while Rory got in and then made his way to his side. He was acting like a complete gentleman, which made Rory think why he was being so nice to her.
They got to a Hartford theatre in about twenty minutes. They decided not to go to the one in stars hallow seeing as how they play old movies that almost no one can follow. Their conversation in the car was mainly about school. What subjects they like and dislike, and what teachers they prefer. But then the conversation shifted to people at Chilton, which meant the conversation was mainly about Paris.
(Their convo. about Paris)
"I don't get it. She's such a jerk to me and I try to be nice about it. Sometime I just can't take it."
"Yeah, well you know she has a thing for me."
"Who doesn't notice? She practically throws herself at you." Rory laughed. They remembered how Rory told Tristan to ask her out.
"Yeah, well, I don't think we'd go good together anyways. I mean, no." He laughed.
"You did go out with her once!"
"AGH! No, don't remind me. That was totally wrong! I did it for you, you know."
"Thanks I guess! But that got her hating me all over again. Before we were starting to be friends. Thanks a lot Tristan!" She playfully hit him in the arm.
"Why would you want to be friends with her?"
"I don't know actually. Just not to be on her bad side I guess."
"Good reason."
"Thought so."
(NOW CUT TO THE MOVIES)
They bought so much food; they had a hard time carrying it. Tristan was carrying his soda, a big bag of popcorn for them to share, twizzlers, and sour patch kids. Rory was carrying her soda, snowcaps, and nachos for two. They sat down as the previews started.
"You know, I could have paid for my half." She ate a snowcap.
"Well, I know you COULD have, but what kind of gentleman would I be?" He took a sip of his soda. "Its not trouble really."
"Fine!" They each grabbed a nacho at the same time and looked at each other and smiled.
"Good." The movie started and they were getting comfortable. Tristan kept looking over at Rory watching the movie. She was very interested. He slid his arm around her and pulled her closer to him. She looked up at him and smiled. He couldn't believe that she was there with him and not pulling away. Rory felt tingles going up and down her spine and the warmth of his arm made her want to stay there like that forever.
Their fingers touched as they took some popcorn sending more tingles through both of them, and pretty soon, a kissing scene came up. They both got a little uneasy. Tristan really wanted to kiss her, and well, she wasn't sure that she didn't want him to. But he was afraid of rejection. And she was afraid of where it would lead. He thought that he could go the whole scene without giving in to the urge, but he failed. Two minutes in, he leaned over and whispered in her ear.
"Would you mind if I kissed you right now?" He asked. Rory felt heat rush through her body and she longed for his lips to be on hers. She'd wished that he didn't ask. Because she didn't know what to say. She couldn't talk she just nodded slowly giving him the o.k. He leaned in and looked her in the eyes first than, he lightly kissed her lips. Than the kiss grew more impassioned. Rory couldn't believe it. She was enjoying it. This, of course, wasn't their first kiss. Their first kiss had been at Madeline's party. But this, felt better. And she didn't run and cry.
Tristan was the first to pull away. His breathing heavy, he whispered again. "You aren't running."
She smiled back at him and kissed him. Tristan was shocked at first, but soon he grew comfortable. He couldn't believe still, that Rory Gilmore's lips were upon his once again.
Chapter Three
They got up and walked out of the row they were sitting in. They were the last to leave the theatre, seeing as how Rory convinced him to stay and watch ALL the credits. 'It shows respect for the people that worked on the movie and have their names at the end.' She had said earlier. Tristan put his hand on the small of her back and led her out of the theatre and to his car. They were pretty much quiet until they got to her house. Yeah, they talked about the music they were listening to, and the movie, but not a full fledge conversation.
Tristan again, stopped the car. "Seems like we're in this position a lot lately." He joked. This made Rory laugh.
"Yeah, I guess so."
"So…"
"So…"
"Did you enjoy that kiss as much as I did?" He finally asked her, looking deep into her eyes.
"More than you know." He smiled in relief and looked down.
"So… do you wanna try it again?" He asked looking back up to meet her eyes again.
Instead of answering, she brought her face up to his and kissed him. They were passionately kissing when someone tapped on Rory's window. They turned to see who it was. There, staring at them, with angry eyes was Dean. That dean. Rory's ex-dean. Rory's mouth dropped as she and Tristan got out of the car.
"Is there something I can do for you Dean?" She asked him coldly. Tristan's arm was wrapped around her waist as if protecting her from him. Tristan was getting angry. And Rory knew it.
"Why is he here?" Dean asked pointing to Tristan.
"Because I want him here, something I can't say without lying about you." She shot back.
"Oh, I see how it is. When I'm not around you go with pretty boy over there."
"You don't talk to her like that, bagboy, or you'll regret it." Tristan took a step towards Dean but Rory held him back from going any further.
"Dean, you know it's over between us. It has been for a while. Just leave me alone. Please leave."
"Fine, but this isn't over. If I ever see your little buddy here, around our town, I'll finish this." He turned and left.
Rory turned to face Tristan who was angry. He was extremely angry. Like he was ready to run after Dean and punch him till he couldn't stand. "Tristan, forget it. I know better than anyone that he's not worth it."
"Yea, but he gets me so damn mad!" He clenched his fist. They walked towards the house and went inside. There was a message on the answering machine. "Hey Ror, there's a message for ya."
Rory looked at the machine and played the message as she made some coffee. "Hey hon, it's me, I just called to see how you were doing. I got your message from before, but I won't say anything, its like a ducks fly at midnight thing." She laughed "So give me a call later when the duck leaves." Tristan looked at Rory weird. "Love ya, bye." Lorelei hung up the phone. Rory just laughed.
"Its my mom, what do you expect?"
"I don't know about you Gilmore's I really don't." He sipped his coffee and watched Rory. She came and sat down across from him at the table and became engrossed in her coffee, like usual. Tristan chuckled to himself and got Rory's attention doing so.
"What's so amusing?" She looked up.
"Huh? Oh, nothing" He grinned.
"Sure. Are you laughing at my addiction again?" He nodded and Rory sighed. "What do you want from me? I'm a Gilmore!" She yelled dramatically, which made him laugh harder. "Come on DuGrey, let's go to the living room!" She stood up and pulled him towards the living room with her.
"So eager to get on a couch with me?" He asked, knowing that she'd roll her eyes, which she DID.
"Oh, yes Tristan! That's all I've wanted for so long! I can't take it anymore!" She grabbed his hand in hers and put it to her heart in sarcasm.
"Oh, you should have told me, I would have come at any hour." They sat down on the couch with their coffees.
There was a brief moment of silence while they just drank their beverages. "Thanks for the movie, I liked it." Rory suddenly said.
"Yeah, me too." Silence. "Especially one part of the movie." He looked over at Rory who brought her eyes on his.
"Yeah." Was all she said as her face turned pink.
He didn't say anything for a minute. "I'm sorry for making Chilton hell for you."
"You don't make it hell. Actually, it's hell all by it's self. But I actually look forward to our conversations. You're the only one there that I can have a good conversation with." She looked down.
He let her try to hide her blush for a second or two, but then lifted her chin with his hand. "Ror, I really like you. I mean I REALLY like you. And when I saw you and that bag boy last year it broke my heart. I broke my heart to hear those words come out of your mouth. This is not to make you guilty for doing it. But Rory, whenever I see you, you make my knees go weak and I don't know how to act. Hence, the teasing. So Rory please I need to hear you say you forgive me."
"Oh Tristan that's the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me, and of course I forgive you. You know the truth is, I've liked you for a while too. Not since I've came to Chilton but, after I figured out that you're teasing wasn't out of dislike, it hit me. I like you too, Tristan. I have for a very long time."
He smiled. "You don't even know how those words make me feel. Rory I don't mean to scare you, but I think I'm in love with you!" She had tears in her eyes and she buried her head into his shoulder.
"Oh Tristan!" She sobbed. He kissed the top of her head and smiled. Than he moved away and planted soft kisses up and down her neck and on numerous places on her face before going for her lips.
CHAPTER FOUR
"Rory, you changed yet?" Tristan asked from outside of her door. She was going to put something nice on, because they were going to go to a club that they could actually get into.
"Yea, come on in!" She yelled back she put on her left shoe and stood up so Tristan could see the full image.
"WOW!" He gasped, as he looked her over. She was wearing hip-hugger black pants with boots and a baby blue spaghetti strapped tank.
"You like?" She asked twirling around.
"Me like!" He walked towards her.
"Maybe a little too much." She laughed.
"Never, you're beautiful!"
"Tris, lets just go, k?" She giggled as she led him out to his car. He put on some up-beat tempo song so they could get "hyped up for the club" as he put it. This would be her first time going, and Rory was excited!
They sat in silence for a while, just listening to the music and bobbing along. "Tris…" Rory began looking at him. "Thanks." She smiled at him.
He knew exactly what she meant by that and smiled. "Your welcome."
In about five more minutes they pulled into the parking lot of the club. Tristan parked and opened the door for Rory. He held out his hand for her and she took it after giggling. He put his hand on the small of her back and walked her to the entrance. When finally inside they stood and took in their surroundings. It was a jungle-themed club that had loud music blaring with A LOT of people dancing in the middle. But there was also another floor where there were booths and a little refreshment place.
"Where to first?" Tristan asked while looking over at Rory.
A slow song came on and Rory smiled at Tristan. "First I want you to hold me." She took his hand in hers and walked with him to the dance floor. He stood there and smiled as she wrapped her arms around his neck. After a second he wrapped his around her waist and whispered in her ear. "I like this controlling role you're playing." She smiled.
"What ever works." She put her head down on his shoulder and they slowly swayed to the music. They were silent for the whole song, but when it finished Tristan made the first move.
"As much as I don't want to stop, there's a change in the music's pace." Rory giggled. "Lets go get something to drink." He led her up the stairs and to the refreshment stand. After buying two cokes, they sat down in a booth in the corner.
"This is fun." Rory bobbed her head to the music. Tristan got up and moved from his side of the booth over to hers. Rory's eyes followed. He sat down sideways and leaned into whisper something into her ear.
"I wanna kiss you." He kissed her ear lightly and looking into her eyes for her reaction.
Rory leaned in as he did and he smiled at this. "I wanna kiss you too." She pulled back and looked at him smiling.
"Than why are we waiting?" He asked and pressed his lips against hers. After like ten minutes, Tristan pulled away out of breath. "I've been waiting to do that since your house. That first 'hello' kiss was nothing compared to that." She smiled.
"You can say that again." He chuckled and put his head down. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to his chest.
"Gilmore, I don't know how I lived with out you. Now lets go dance!" They got up and went down to the dance floor.
Rory was really getting into the dancing. She was really happy. Tristan smiled at this. He was glad. An up-beat song came on and Rory screamed. "I love this song!"
"Well, let's get at it!" He grabbed her waist and danced close.
Chapter Seven (Yeah, chapter six was short, but it'll all work out!)
"Tristan, that was the best night of my life!" Rory held on to his arm as they walked to Tristan's car laughing.
"Yeah, I know what you mean! We gotta do it again." Rory nodded. They got to his car and he opened up the door for her. "There you go m'lady." She got in and he made his way to his side of the car.
They drove back to Stars Hallow in pretty much silence. Tristan held Rory's hand and drove with the other. They pulled into the Gilmore house at about 1:00.
"Well here we are." Tristan said after shutting the car off and looking at Rory.
"Tristan…"Rory said in a small voice.
"Yeah, what's wrong?" He asked.
"I'm scared."
"Of…"
"Being alone. When it's dark." She looked at him sheepishly. This was the first night alone, ever, for Rory. The day seemed so long with Rory being at the library, then the movie, and finally the nightclub, and Rory didn't really think about being alone.
"Rory, do you want me to stay with you?" He asked comfortingly.
"Would you?" Her face lit up as she looked at him like a little three year old that had just been told that she was going to an amusement park.
He smiled and nodded. "Come on." They got out of the car and walked into the house. Rory checked her messages and there was one from Luke just checking up.
"So do you want anything?" Rory asked Tristan.
"Oh, no, I'm fine." He smiled at her.
"Okay, than well. I'll get the blankets and stuff from the closet." She walked to the closet where she tried to pull the blankets out from under a heavy box, but it wasn't as easy as it seemed.
Once again, Tristan came to help her. He took the blankets out and smiled. "There."
"Thank you." She grinned back before skipping to the living room and started making Tristan a bed on the couch.
"Here, lemme do it. You can go get changed and stuff." She nodded and walked off to her room. Tristan finished making the bed before talking off his shirt. He was left in a white wife beater. He was happy that he wore soft khakis instead of rough jeans, because he wasn't going to sleep in his usual sleep attire because it consisted of only boxer shorts. He sat down on the newly made couch and looked through a magazine.
Rory soon emerged from her room in a black tank top and pink pajama bottoms with cups of coffee on them. Tristan looked up and seen the pants and chuckled. "What" She asked.
"Oh, nothing…it's just that you even have coffee on you pj's!"
She plopped down next to him. "Well, us Gilmore's love our coffee!"
"I know that." They sat there a minute. "Yeah, well it's getting late. We should go to bed." He finally said.
"Yeah." She got up and smiled at him. He than rose and kissed her.
"Good night Rory Gilmore." He whispered into her ear.
"Night!" She smiled and walked off to her room leaving Tristan alone. He shut off the light and lied down. It was going to be hard falling asleep with Rory only a few feet away, but he finally fell asleep an hour later.
Rory fell asleep before Tristan had, and now she woke up. She looked over at her clock and see that it was three in the morning. She tried to fall back asleep, but she couldn't seem to fall asleep. She was tossing and turning. She sat up and looked around her dark bedroom. She decided to make some coffee; she crept out of her bedroom and stopped to look into the living room. There, Tristan laid on his back facing the kitchen with one arm across his eyes. He looked so peaceful and, well, gorgeous. She turned back towards the kitchen and turned on a little light above the oven, that was never in use, so she could use as little light as possible not to bother Tristan.
After the coffee was made, she sat down at the table and drank it. Even coffee in the middle of the night tasted great. She moved her neck around in a circular motion. It was really tight. She couldn't seem to get the nitch out.(A.N. had one in mine, so I was inspired!) She took another sip when she heard someone walking around. She figured it was Tristan, who had woken up and indeed it was. He stumbled into the kitchen and looked at Rory who just smiled back at him.
"Did I wake you?" She asked.
"No, I wasn't sleeping too well."
"Is it the couch?"
"Nah, sometimes I just can't sleep. Its fine, I'm used to it." He sat across from rory at the table.
"Want me to make ya some coffee? Or some hot chocolate?" She asked.
"Sure, hot chocolate please, I'd like to actually get some more sleep tonight." He smiled at her. "Unlike you I see." She got up and made him the hot chocolate and sat back down.
"Coffee has a total opposite affect on me. I can sleep just fine after it. Its great."
"Uhuh. Okay." He grinned at her. "So why are you up?" He asked.
"Woke up, couldn't fall back asleep."
"Oh." Rory moved her neck around again. It was really starting to bother her. "So…"
"Yeah. Wanna go watch some TV while we drink this?" She asked.
"Sure, sounds good." They walked into the living room with their beverages in their hands and sat down on the couch, which was subbing for Tristan's bed. Rory turned the TV on and flipped through the channels and stopped on the preview channel so they could see what was on at that time.
"There is absolutely nothing on." Rory said looking over at Tristan.
"I know." She shut the television off and looked over at him again before putting her now empty mug down on the coffee table.
"Are you ready to sleep?" She asked him. "Cause I don't wanna keep you up if you're ready."
"No, no, you're not keeping me up." He smiled at her. He finished his cup and also put it down on the table. Rory rubbed the back of her neck that suddenly had a shot of pain go through it. "Are you alright, you've been moving your neck a lot lately." He asked concerned.
"Actually, it has been bothering me a lot. I have like this nitch in it that will not go away."
"Come here."
"What?" She asked.
"Come here and turn around, I'll get it out." She hesitantly obliged. She sat Indian style next to him on the couch. He moved her hair to one side of her neck and out of the way. He began massaging the area that she said hurt. "How does that feel?" He asked making sure he wasn't putting too much pressure.
"Great! How do you know exactly what to do? Actually, I bet you do this for all of your little girlfriends don't you?" She laughed a little.
"No, just you." He smiled.
"Uhuh. Just me huh?"
"Yup."
"Okay." He kept massaging it until the nitch was out.
"Is it out?" he asked.
"Yeah. Thanks." She turned to sit Indian style facing him. He was also facing her with with one leg under him and the other one hung over the side of the couch.
"No problem. I'd do it any time for you." He smiled at her.
She blushed slightly but smiled back. "I had a real good time tonight."
"Me too. We gotta do it again." She nodded.
CONTINUED TOMORROW!
Rory awoke to almost complete silence. The only thing she could hear was the feint ticking of her watch on the night stand. The shades were down, so there was no way to tell if it was day or night out. She rolled over and squinted to see what her watch said. At first she couldn't tell the difference between twelve thirty and six o'clock. Than it became clearer. It was six.
She groaned and got up. She shuffled into the empty kitchen and turned on the coffee. She looked around. She hated being alone in the house. Her mom was at some inn convention for two weeks, Lane was at a family reunion, and her and Dean weren't exactly buddy buddy. After the episode at Chilton's court yard, they dated through out the summer, but Rory broke it off. She didn't like him that way anymore, and she couldn't go on lying to herself, and to Dean. Things were just different.
To make matters worse. The two weeks that her mother would be gone. Chilton had a vacation. So pretty much she was alone for two weeks. Fun! Lorelai asked if she wanted to stay with Rory's grandparents, but Rory quickly answered that she was willing to stay home alone instead.
It was now Saturday. The first day of vacation, and she planned on going back to Chilton. She was going to go to the library and browse for some books to read while she had plenty of time to.
Chapter One:
Rory walked into Chilton and headed for her locker. She needed to pick up a book she left there to study a little. She than walked into the library, which was conveniently not too far from her locker. She spent a lot of time at the library. Lunches, keeping away from Paris' evil glares, and avoiding Tristan. Tristan. She had really missed him. He didn't banter with her anymore. He actually rarely spoke to her since she made up with Dean at the courtyard. And well, she actually wished they could have a second chance at being friends.
She found her table and put her backpack down. She went to the first row of books and started walking up and down the aisles plucking four books before she even finished the first row. When she was only half way through the rows, she had to go back to the table to put the books down, they were weighing her down. But before she did, she spotted a book she had been searching for weeks. "Yes!" She grabbed it as someone tapped her on the shoulder. She gasped and dropped all the books before turning to see whom it was. "Tristan!" She was shocked. He was the last person she'd expect to be at the library during vacation. She'd think he'd be out with girls partying day and night or at some country club. But he wasn't, he was at the library. Conveniently at the same time as Rory was.
"Mary, careful." He knelt down and picked up the books. He hadn't called her Mary since last year. And this surprised her that he had again. She thought that he'd never talk to her….but she felt a need to smile. When he looked up she erased the smile from her face. She didn't want him to see it. "Tristan, you scared me. Don't ever do that to me again!" Her hand was still on her heart from the surprise. She grabbed her books from his hands and put them under her arm. "Thanks." She said softly and turned around to walk to the table.
Tristan followed suit. She stopped and turned back to him. "Did you need something?" She asked.
"Nope." They kept walking and finally got to the table. She plopped the books into her bag. She wasn't going to look for anymore. She needed to save some books for the rest of the Chilton year. Plus, she had enough for the two weeks. She swung the bag on her shoulder, only to find that it was EXTREMELY heavy. Tristan laughed and took the bag in his hand. As if weighing like a feather, he swung in over his shoulder with one hand. "Lemme help ya with that." She grinned at her. She knew that that was the only way that she'd get the books out of the school so she just nodded in defeat. They walked out of the library silently. "So how are you getting home?" Tristan finally asked.
"Bus. How else?" She looked up at him.
"Well…how about I give you a ride?" She stopped and he stopped to face her. "Anything wrong?" He asked.
"Yea…. I have a question. Why are you all of a sudden talking to me? And being nice?"
"What, I can't help a friend out?" He asked, raising his hands.
"Friend??" Rory's mouth dropped and Tristan laughed. He stepped closer and closed her mouth with his hand.
"Yeah. Friend." She smiled at him and they walked to Tristan's car. They were silent as they drove from Chilton's parking lot. It felt awkward for both of them. They each wanted to start a conversation, but nothing seemed right. After about three minutes of silence, they started talking about music. And well, playful banter surely erupted from that!
(At the Gilmore House)
They pulled into the Gilmore Driveway and Tristan shut the car off. Rory watched him do so. "So how come your mom hasn't run out here yet to see who I was?" He grinned at her.
"Well…. you see, my mom is out of town for the next two weeks. I'm alone." She looked down at her ring and then back up to him. He smiled at her.
"Well, aren't you afraid?" He asked.
"Not really…" She answered.
"Uhuh. Now tell me another one!" He laughed.
"Well…"
"That's what I thought." There was a moment of silence. "So why don't you invite bagboy Dean over?" His face showed no sign of a smile; it showed the sign of pain.
Rory looked down again. "Because…because we broke up a while ago." She looked up to see Tristan's expression. He tried to hide the happiness inside but a small smile shown through. "That should make you happy." She smiled slightly at him.
"Actually more than you know." He said up to her ear. Almost touching it. Rory felt her cheeks turn red, and Tristan laughed at this. "Hey, how about I walk you to your door." He asked changing the subject. Rory wasn't getting his hints. She would have to start or he'd have to get a little more up front about them.
She nodded to him and they opened their doors. They met together in front of the car and walked up to the porch. "So do you wanna come in for some coffee, or something?" She asked.
"Uh…yeah, sure. Why not." He smiled at the invite and followed Rory inside and to the kitchen. Rory started making the coffee after she motioned for him to have a seat at the table. He sat and watched Rory work. She was looking in all the cabinets and every drawer.
"Do you need help with anything?" He whispered into her ear. She stopped. She didn't realize that he had come up behind her.
"Uh…uh… no…that's okay. Um…" She managed out. She felt tingles go through her body at how close he actually was.
"You don't sound too sure about that one." He looked at her and smiled a genuine smile. Not a smirk, a real smile. She turned around to face him.
"Why would you say that?"
"Well…" He was about to answer when the phone rang. They turned to look towards the sound. The base of the phone was there, but the phone wasn't
"Great. Now I have to find it!"
"Well, usually it'd be right there."
"Yea, not in a house where my mother lives!" She laughed and they headed into the living room.
"Can I help?" He asked Rory who was searching through a laundry basket.
"Yea, sure. Grab a pile." They dug until Tristan finally found the missing phone. He through it towards her and she picked it up. "Hello… oh hi mom." Rory sat down next to Tristan on the couch. He was flipping through one of the magazines on the table. "Yeah, I'm fine. Uhuh. Yea, I found it in a pile in the living room. Uhuh. We really have to attempt to clean this one of these days when you get back. Uhuh. Yeah, I'll believe it when I see it mom."
"Ooh… How to get your hair to flow just right!" Tristan whispered. Rory giggled.
"No mom. Yeah…Tristan…yes THAT Tristan. Yeah, he gave me a ride from the library today. Coffee… okay mom I got to go. Yes…Love you too. Bye." She hung up the phone and looked at Tristan.
"So I'm THAT Tristan?" He smirked not even looking up from the magazine.
"Yeah."
"So that means you've talked about me." The smirk was still there.
"Don't let your ego grow just yet. It wasn't good things."
"Well is there going to be good talk of me any time soon?" He asked looking up and into Rory's equal blue eyes.
"Maybe… you're just going to have to wait and see about that one. I'll get back to ya." She grabbed another magazine and flipped through it. The coffee started to boil so she ran in the kitchen and returned with two mugs of steamy coffee. "Mmmm… coffee!" She smelled the brew in front of her and smiled. Tristan laughed at her addiction and began to sip his. They continued to look through the magazines.
"Oh!"
"What's that?" She asked.
"A quiz. How to know if he's dropping hints." He looked at Rory and their eyes met again. This time it had meaning. Tristan knew she understood what he meant.
"Oh." She said, but didn't turn away. His eyes were mesmerizing and beautiful.
"Yeah. Why haven't you taken the quiz yet?" Their eyes still locked.
"Um… I don't know."
Chapter Two
They finished reading their magazines and after the awkward revealing moment, they were silent once again. "So." Tristan began.
"So…"
"What now?" He asked.
"Um… I don't know."
"What are you doing today?" He asked her.
"Um… absolutely nothing."
"Uhuh."
"What did that uhuh mean?"
"Nothing. Just an uhuh." He smiled at her.
"Uhuh."
"Well, do you wanna see a movie or something?" He asked. "Seeing as how we both are home alone for the vacation with nothing to do. We should do something together. You know one lonely to another."
"Um... okay yea, sure. Lemme just go and change." He nodded and got up and helped her to her feet. "You know I'm a big girl and don't need supervision." She laughed.
"Funny Gilmore, but I was actually going to ask you if I could use your bathroom. But if you really want me to help, just give me a holler." She motioned to the bathroom.
"Very funny." They went their separate ways. When Tristan was through with the bathroom, he walked into the kitchen and got a drink of water. Rory was still changing so he figured she was almost done.
But, in her room, Rory was going through all of her clothes looking for the right outfit to wear. Lorelei was usually the one who helped her with this, but she wasn't anywhere close to help. She looked at the phone and was deciding whether to call her mother or just use her own judgement. She decided to call Lorelei. She dialed the number and waited for an answer. Lorelei's answering machine picked up. "Sorry, can't help you now. Call later, business meeting…leave a message."
"Mom, I just called to ask you what to wear to the movies with Tristan…yes you heard my right. Well since your not there, I have to pick out my own clothes! Love ya, bye" She hung up the phone and picked a nice purple tee with low jeans and left the room. She found Tristan in the kitchen drinking some water.
"You ready?" He asked with a grin.
"Yup. You?" She asked.
"I'm always ready." They got up and they walked to Tristan's BMW. He held the door open while Rory got in and then made his way to his side. He was acting like a complete gentleman, which made Rory think why he was being so nice to her.
They got to a Hartford theatre in about twenty minutes. They decided not to go to the one in stars hallow seeing as how they play old movies that almost no one can follow. Their conversation in the car was mainly about school. What subjects they like and dislike, and what teachers they prefer. But then the conversation shifted to people at Chilton, which meant the conversation was mainly about Paris.
(Their convo. about Paris)
"I don't get it. She's such a jerk to me and I try to be nice about it. Sometime I just can't take it."
"Yeah, well you know she has a thing for me."
"Who doesn't notice? She practically throws herself at you." Rory laughed. They remembered how Rory told Tristan to ask her out.
"Yeah, well, I don't think we'd go good together anyways. I mean, no." He laughed.
"You did go out with her once!"
"AGH! No, don't remind me. That was totally wrong! I did it for you, you know."
"Thanks I guess! But that got her hating me all over again. Before we were starting to be friends. Thanks a lot Tristan!" She playfully hit him in the arm.
"Why would you want to be friends with her?"
"I don't know actually. Just not to be on her bad side I guess."
"Good reason."
"Thought so."
(NOW CUT TO THE MOVIES)
They bought so much food; they had a hard time carrying it. Tristan was carrying his soda, a big bag of popcorn for them to share, twizzlers, and sour patch kids. Rory was carrying her soda, snowcaps, and nachos for two. They sat down as the previews started.
"You know, I could have paid for my half." She ate a snowcap.
"Well, I know you COULD have, but what kind of gentleman would I be?" He took a sip of his soda. "Its not trouble really."
"Fine!" They each grabbed a nacho at the same time and looked at each other and smiled.
"Good." The movie started and they were getting comfortable. Tristan kept looking over at Rory watching the movie. She was very interested. He slid his arm around her and pulled her closer to him. She looked up at him and smiled. He couldn't believe that she was there with him and not pulling away. Rory felt tingles going up and down her spine and the warmth of his arm made her want to stay there like that forever.
Their fingers touched as they took some popcorn sending more tingles through both of them, and pretty soon, a kissing scene came up. They both got a little uneasy. Tristan really wanted to kiss her, and well, she wasn't sure that she didn't want him to. But he was afraid of rejection. And she was afraid of where it would lead. He thought that he could go the whole scene without giving in to the urge, but he failed. Two minutes in, he leaned over and whispered in her ear.
"Would you mind if I kissed you right now?" He asked. Rory felt heat rush through her body and she longed for his lips to be on hers. She'd wished that he didn't ask. Because she didn't know what to say. She couldn't talk she just nodded slowly giving him the o.k. He leaned in and looked her in the eyes first than, he lightly kissed her lips. Than the kiss grew more impassioned. Rory couldn't believe it. She was enjoying it. This, of course, wasn't their first kiss. Their first kiss had been at Madeline's party. But this, felt better. And she didn't run and cry.
Tristan was the first to pull away. His breathing heavy, he whispered again. "You aren't running."
She smiled back at him and kissed him. Tristan was shocked at first, but soon he grew comfortable. He couldn't believe still, that Rory Gilmore's lips were upon his once again.
Chapter Three
They got up and walked out of the row they were sitting in. They were the last to leave the theatre, seeing as how Rory convinced him to stay and watch ALL the credits. 'It shows respect for the people that worked on the movie and have their names at the end.' She had said earlier. Tristan put his hand on the small of her back and led her out of the theatre and to his car. They were pretty much quiet until they got to her house. Yeah, they talked about the music they were listening to, and the movie, but not a full fledge conversation.
Tristan again, stopped the car. "Seems like we're in this position a lot lately." He joked. This made Rory laugh.
"Yeah, I guess so."
"So…"
"So…"
"Did you enjoy that kiss as much as I did?" He finally asked her, looking deep into her eyes.
"More than you know." He smiled in relief and looked down.
"So… do you wanna try it again?" He asked looking back up to meet her eyes again.
Instead of answering, she brought her face up to his and kissed him. They were passionately kissing when someone tapped on Rory's window. They turned to see who it was. There, staring at them, with angry eyes was Dean. That dean. Rory's ex-dean. Rory's mouth dropped as she and Tristan got out of the car.
"Is there something I can do for you Dean?" She asked him coldly. Tristan's arm was wrapped around her waist as if protecting her from him. Tristan was getting angry. And Rory knew it.
"Why is he here?" Dean asked pointing to Tristan.
"Because I want him here, something I can't say without lying about you." She shot back.
"Oh, I see how it is. When I'm not around you go with pretty boy over there."
"You don't talk to her like that, bagboy, or you'll regret it." Tristan took a step towards Dean but Rory held him back from going any further.
"Dean, you know it's over between us. It has been for a while. Just leave me alone. Please leave."
"Fine, but this isn't over. If I ever see your little buddy here, around our town, I'll finish this." He turned and left.
Rory turned to face Tristan who was angry. He was extremely angry. Like he was ready to run after Dean and punch him till he couldn't stand. "Tristan, forget it. I know better than anyone that he's not worth it."
"Yea, but he gets me so damn mad!" He clenched his fist. They walked towards the house and went inside. There was a message on the answering machine. "Hey Ror, there's a message for ya."
Rory looked at the machine and played the message as she made some coffee. "Hey hon, it's me, I just called to see how you were doing. I got your message from before, but I won't say anything, its like a ducks fly at midnight thing." She laughed "So give me a call later when the duck leaves." Tristan looked at Rory weird. "Love ya, bye." Lorelei hung up the phone. Rory just laughed.
"Its my mom, what do you expect?"
"I don't know about you Gilmore's I really don't." He sipped his coffee and watched Rory. She came and sat down across from him at the table and became engrossed in her coffee, like usual. Tristan chuckled to himself and got Rory's attention doing so.
"What's so amusing?" She looked up.
"Huh? Oh, nothing" He grinned.
"Sure. Are you laughing at my addiction again?" He nodded and Rory sighed. "What do you want from me? I'm a Gilmore!" She yelled dramatically, which made him laugh harder. "Come on DuGrey, let's go to the living room!" She stood up and pulled him towards the living room with her.
"So eager to get on a couch with me?" He asked, knowing that she'd roll her eyes, which she DID.
"Oh, yes Tristan! That's all I've wanted for so long! I can't take it anymore!" She grabbed his hand in hers and put it to her heart in sarcasm.
"Oh, you should have told me, I would have come at any hour." They sat down on the couch with their coffees.
There was a brief moment of silence while they just drank their beverages. "Thanks for the movie, I liked it." Rory suddenly said.
"Yeah, me too." Silence. "Especially one part of the movie." He looked over at Rory who brought her eyes on his.
"Yeah." Was all she said as her face turned pink.
He didn't say anything for a minute. "I'm sorry for making Chilton hell for you."
"You don't make it hell. Actually, it's hell all by it's self. But I actually look forward to our conversations. You're the only one there that I can have a good conversation with." She looked down.
He let her try to hide her blush for a second or two, but then lifted her chin with his hand. "Ror, I really like you. I mean I REALLY like you. And when I saw you and that bag boy last year it broke my heart. I broke my heart to hear those words come out of your mouth. This is not to make you guilty for doing it. But Rory, whenever I see you, you make my knees go weak and I don't know how to act. Hence, the teasing. So Rory please I need to hear you say you forgive me."
"Oh Tristan that's the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me, and of course I forgive you. You know the truth is, I've liked you for a while too. Not since I've came to Chilton but, after I figured out that you're teasing wasn't out of dislike, it hit me. I like you too, Tristan. I have for a very long time."
He smiled. "You don't even know how those words make me feel. Rory I don't mean to scare you, but I think I'm in love with you!" She had tears in her eyes and she buried her head into his shoulder.
"Oh Tristan!" She sobbed. He kissed the top of her head and smiled. Than he moved away and planted soft kisses up and down her neck and on numerous places on her face before going for her lips.
CHAPTER FOUR
"Rory, you changed yet?" Tristan asked from outside of her door. She was going to put something nice on, because they were going to go to a club that they could actually get into.
"Yea, come on in!" She yelled back she put on her left shoe and stood up so Tristan could see the full image.
"WOW!" He gasped, as he looked her over. She was wearing hip-hugger black pants with boots and a baby blue spaghetti strapped tank.
"You like?" She asked twirling around.
"Me like!" He walked towards her.
"Maybe a little too much." She laughed.
"Never, you're beautiful!"
"Tris, lets just go, k?" She giggled as she led him out to his car. He put on some up-beat tempo song so they could get "hyped up for the club" as he put it. This would be her first time going, and Rory was excited!
They sat in silence for a while, just listening to the music and bobbing along. "Tris…" Rory began looking at him. "Thanks." She smiled at him.
He knew exactly what she meant by that and smiled. "Your welcome."
In about five more minutes they pulled into the parking lot of the club. Tristan parked and opened the door for Rory. He held out his hand for her and she took it after giggling. He put his hand on the small of her back and walked her to the entrance. When finally inside they stood and took in their surroundings. It was a jungle-themed club that had loud music blaring with A LOT of people dancing in the middle. But there was also another floor where there were booths and a little refreshment place.
"Where to first?" Tristan asked while looking over at Rory.
A slow song came on and Rory smiled at Tristan. "First I want you to hold me." She took his hand in hers and walked with him to the dance floor. He stood there and smiled as she wrapped her arms around his neck. After a second he wrapped his around her waist and whispered in her ear. "I like this controlling role you're playing." She smiled.
"What ever works." She put her head down on his shoulder and they slowly swayed to the music. They were silent for the whole song, but when it finished Tristan made the first move.
"As much as I don't want to stop, there's a change in the music's pace." Rory giggled. "Lets go get something to drink." He led her up the stairs and to the refreshment stand. After buying two cokes, they sat down in a booth in the corner.
"This is fun." Rory bobbed her head to the music. Tristan got up and moved from his side of the booth over to hers. Rory's eyes followed. He sat down sideways and leaned into whisper something into her ear.
"I wanna kiss you." He kissed her ear lightly and looking into her eyes for her reaction.
Rory leaned in as he did and he smiled at this. "I wanna kiss you too." She pulled back and looked at him smiling.
"Than why are we waiting?" He asked and pressed his lips against hers. After like ten minutes, Tristan pulled away out of breath. "I've been waiting to do that since your house. That first 'hello' kiss was nothing compared to that." She smiled.
"You can say that again." He chuckled and put his head down. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to his chest.
"Gilmore, I don't know how I lived with out you. Now lets go dance!" They got up and went down to the dance floor.
Rory was really getting into the dancing. She was really happy. Tristan smiled at this. He was glad. An up-beat song came on and Rory screamed. "I love this song!"
"Well, let's get at it!" He grabbed her waist and danced close.
Chapter Seven (Yeah, chapter six was short, but it'll all work out!)
"Tristan, that was the best night of my life!" Rory held on to his arm as they walked to Tristan's car laughing.
"Yeah, I know what you mean! We gotta do it again." Rory nodded. They got to his car and he opened up the door for her. "There you go m'lady." She got in and he made his way to his side of the car.
They drove back to Stars Hallow in pretty much silence. Tristan held Rory's hand and drove with the other. They pulled into the Gilmore house at about 1:00.
"Well here we are." Tristan said after shutting the car off and looking at Rory.
"Tristan…"Rory said in a small voice.
"Yeah, what's wrong?" He asked.
"I'm scared."
"Of…"
"Being alone. When it's dark." She looked at him sheepishly. This was the first night alone, ever, for Rory. The day seemed so long with Rory being at the library, then the movie, and finally the nightclub, and Rory didn't really think about being alone.
"Rory, do you want me to stay with you?" He asked comfortingly.
"Would you?" Her face lit up as she looked at him like a little three year old that had just been told that she was going to an amusement park.
He smiled and nodded. "Come on." They got out of the car and walked into the house. Rory checked her messages and there was one from Luke just checking up.
"So do you want anything?" Rory asked Tristan.
"Oh, no, I'm fine." He smiled at her.
"Okay, than well. I'll get the blankets and stuff from the closet." She walked to the closet where she tried to pull the blankets out from under a heavy box, but it wasn't as easy as it seemed.
Once again, Tristan came to help her. He took the blankets out and smiled. "There."
"Thank you." She grinned back before skipping to the living room and started making Tristan a bed on the couch.
"Here, lemme do it. You can go get changed and stuff." She nodded and walked off to her room. Tristan finished making the bed before talking off his shirt. He was left in a white wife beater. He was happy that he wore soft khakis instead of rough jeans, because he wasn't going to sleep in his usual sleep attire because it consisted of only boxer shorts. He sat down on the newly made couch and looked through a magazine.
Rory soon emerged from her room in a black tank top and pink pajama bottoms with cups of coffee on them. Tristan looked up and seen the pants and chuckled. "What" She asked.
"Oh, nothing…it's just that you even have coffee on you pj's!"
She plopped down next to him. "Well, us Gilmore's love our coffee!"
"I know that." They sat there a minute. "Yeah, well it's getting late. We should go to bed." He finally said.
"Yeah." She got up and smiled at him. He than rose and kissed her.
"Good night Rory Gilmore." He whispered into her ear.
"Night!" She smiled and walked off to her room leaving Tristan alone. He shut off the light and lied down. It was going to be hard falling asleep with Rory only a few feet away, but he finally fell asleep an hour later.
Rory fell asleep before Tristan had, and now she woke up. She looked over at her clock and see that it was three in the morning. She tried to fall back asleep, but she couldn't seem to fall asleep. She was tossing and turning. She sat up and looked around her dark bedroom. She decided to make some coffee; she crept out of her bedroom and stopped to look into the living room. There, Tristan laid on his back facing the kitchen with one arm across his eyes. He looked so peaceful and, well, gorgeous. She turned back towards the kitchen and turned on a little light above the oven, that was never in use, so she could use as little light as possible not to bother Tristan.
After the coffee was made, she sat down at the table and drank it. Even coffee in the middle of the night tasted great. She moved her neck around in a circular motion. It was really tight. She couldn't seem to get the nitch out.(A.N. had one in mine, so I was inspired!) She took another sip when she heard someone walking around. She figured it was Tristan, who had woken up and indeed it was. He stumbled into the kitchen and looked at Rory who just smiled back at him.
"Did I wake you?" She asked.
"No, I wasn't sleeping too well."
"Is it the couch?"
"Nah, sometimes I just can't sleep. Its fine, I'm used to it." He sat across from rory at the table.
"Want me to make ya some coffee? Or some hot chocolate?" She asked.
"Sure, hot chocolate please, I'd like to actually get some more sleep tonight." He smiled at her. "Unlike you I see." She got up and made him the hot chocolate and sat back down.
"Coffee has a total opposite affect on me. I can sleep just fine after it. Its great."
"Uhuh. Okay." He grinned at her. "So why are you up?" He asked.
"Woke up, couldn't fall back asleep."
"Oh." Rory moved her neck around again. It was really starting to bother her. "So…"
"Yeah. Wanna go watch some TV while we drink this?" She asked.
"Sure, sounds good." They walked into the living room with their beverages in their hands and sat down on the couch, which was subbing for Tristan's bed. Rory turned the TV on and flipped through the channels and stopped on the preview channel so they could see what was on at that time.
"There is absolutely nothing on." Rory said looking over at Tristan.
"I know." She shut the television off and looked over at him again before putting her now empty mug down on the coffee table.
"Are you ready to sleep?" She asked him. "Cause I don't wanna keep you up if you're ready."
"No, no, you're not keeping me up." He smiled at her. He finished his cup and also put it down on the table. Rory rubbed the back of her neck that suddenly had a shot of pain go through it. "Are you alright, you've been moving your neck a lot lately." He asked concerned.
"Actually, it has been bothering me a lot. I have like this nitch in it that will not go away."
"Come here."
"What?" She asked.
"Come here and turn around, I'll get it out." She hesitantly obliged. She sat Indian style next to him on the couch. He moved her hair to one side of her neck and out of the way. He began massaging the area that she said hurt. "How does that feel?" He asked making sure he wasn't putting too much pressure.
"Great! How do you know exactly what to do? Actually, I bet you do this for all of your little girlfriends don't you?" She laughed a little.
"No, just you." He smiled.
"Uhuh. Just me huh?"
"Yup."
"Okay." He kept massaging it until the nitch was out.
"Is it out?" he asked.
"Yeah. Thanks." She turned to sit Indian style facing him. He was also facing her with with one leg under him and the other one hung over the side of the couch.
"No problem. I'd do it any time for you." He smiled at her.
She blushed slightly but smiled back. "I had a real good time tonight."
"Me too. We gotta do it again." She nodded.
CONTINUED TOMORROW!