Disclaimer: As usual, I don't own anything.

Authors Notes: Hey everyone. Here's chapter six! I hope you like it! Also Rory and Tristan have developed a really close friendship by this time. A great big THANKS to everyone who reviewed. You guys are the best! I hope to get another chapter out soon! Please r/r!

A Second Chance

By Angel

Chapter 6: Homecoming

Rory was extremely happy. The rest of the school year had gone off without a hitch. Paris had finally gotten over Tristan, and they had formed a friendship of sorts. Rory was sure that Jonathan, a cute guy in their French class and Paris's new boyfriend, had something to with that. Her summer had been excellent. She spent lots of time with Lane, Dean and Sandy walking around town and watching movies. She had exchanged letters and phone calls with Tristan almost every week, and they had become really good friends. Unfortunately she wasn't sure if Tristan was coming back or not. His last letter had been really cryptic on the subject. Sighing she went back to getting her bag ready for another year of Chilton hell.

"Hey honey, ready for your last weekend of freedom before hell starts again?" Lorelai asked as she came bouncing into Rory's room.

"Yeah, I guess so." Rory said.

"So have you talked to bible boy lately?"

"No, his last letter was a while ago, and he said he had to be somewhere. Maybe they let him out for the summer." Rory said, trying to keep the slight tinge of sadness out of her voice.

"Aww you miss him don't you?" Lorelai said with a twinkle of mischief in her eyes.

"Well, sort of…I mean I know that we have this whole history, but we're such good friends now, and…" Rory began but the sound of knocking cut her off.

'Who would be knocking on our door?' she wondered as she went to open it. As the door opened, Rory gasped in surprise and stood there in shock. Standing at her door was none other than Tristan!

Tristan smiled, pleased with the obvious surprise mixed with happiness on Rory's face. 'It's good to know I've been missed' he thought as he leaned against the doorway. Letting his trademark smirk grace his features, he took the chance to look Rory over. She had changed, but she was still the beautiful girl he fell in love with so long ago. Deciding the silence had gone on long enough he smirked again and said "What? No hello? Mary, Mary, Mary, I thought you had better manners than that."

His voice broke Rory out her daze. Unable to curb her enthusiasm at seeing him, she gave him a huge hug and said "Tristan! It's great to see you! So what are you doing here? When did you get back? Are you here to stay?" she said in a huge rush.

"Whoa…let the boy breath, come inside, and meet your mother before he answers all those questions," Lorelai said coming to the door. Letting Tristan in, she led him to the kitchen. "Hi, I'm Lorelai, Rory's mom."

"Nice to meet you Lorelai. I'm Tristan DuGray." Tristan said as he shook her hand.

"Whoa…bible boy is good. He didn't even call me Mrs.! Did you warn him?" Lorelai asked Rory.

"Uuummm…well I might have mentioned your dislike for the title in one of my letters…" Rory began.

"Wonderful! It's times like these that I'm glad that you're my daughter. Anyway, let's get something to eat. That way bible boy can answer all your questions, and I won't starve to death!" Lorelai said, dragging them both out the door.

They entered Luke's and sat down. Immediately Luke came over. "So, who's he?" he asked in a gruff tone.

"Tristan DuGray sir." Tristan said extending his hand.

Ignoring Tristan's hand, he turned to Rory and asked again. "So who's he?"

Rory answered as she suppressed a giggle. "Luke this is Tristan."

"You mean the evil kid who made your life a living hell the first year at Chilton?"

"The one and only."

"What's he doing here?"

"Didn't you hear?" Lorelai asked as she broke into the conversation, "evil boy here isn't so evil anymore, so we can't call him the devil child, or spawn of Satan or anything. Don't you hate when people reform and then leave you with only one nickname? I mean really, you would think they would be considerate. Now we only have bible boy to work with, and so I think it's time to make up a whole new set. Oohhh that would be fun! And then we could…"

"Mom! Stop. Anyway, long story made short. He's not evil anymore, and he's a friend, so can we order now?" Rory asked, stopping her mom before she got too out of hand.

"Sure," Luke grunted. "So, what do you want?"

"Three usuals please," Lorelai answered, "Oh, and make sure the coffee's are extra big!"

"No."

"Aaawwww come on Luke," Lorelai whined. "I need it to survive!"

"No. It's gonna kill you." Luke said as he went to make their orders.

"Then I'll die happy!" Lorelai said as Luke walked away.

"So Tristan," Rory said "You still haven't answered my questions."

"Oh right," Tristan said snapping out of his amazement at what had just occurred. Never before had he seen anyone so addicted to coffee. "Well I'm back for the final year, and I just got back this morning, and I'm here because I thought it might be nice to give you a surprise visit."

"Well I'm glad you're back." Rory said as Luke placed their orders in front of them.

'So am I,' Tristan thought as they began to eat. 'So am I'

~Chilton History Class beginning of the Year~

Rory could barely keep her eyes open. History was usually so interesting. Why was it so boring today? Suddenly a piece of paper landed on her desk. Quickly glancing to make sure the teacher wasn't looking, she opened up the note.

Don't fall asleep Mary, or else Chandler will kill you. ;) So…guess what? Chris thinks you're hot.

Rory rolled her eyes and smiled. Making sure Mr. Chandler wasn't looking, she quickly scribbled something and threw the note back to Tristan.

Tristan smiled as he opened up the note. He saw her roll her eyes, and knew which comment caused it, but it was so much fun to tease her like that. Looking down, he read what Rory wrote.

Yeah right Tris. I really believe that.

Tristan quickly wrote back and threw the note to Rory.

Rory opened it up and began to read.

Why? Don't you "like" him? J/k j/k. Do you think that a guy wouldn't think that? I do.

Rory thought for a moment. What the heck was that supposed to mean? Did he just say that it would be normal for a guy to think she was hot and that he though that she was hot? Nah, it couldn't be. I mean, they were just friends. He must have been joking. Scribbling something down, she threw the note back to Tristan.

Tristan opened the note and began to read.

Sure Tris, sure. I know the truth, and there's no way that anybody could think I'm hot.

'I do' Tristan thought as he finished reading. Letting out a small sigh, he decided to give her a hint of his true feelings. Throwing the note back to her, he watched as she opened it up and began to read.

So what are you doing for the big graduation dance? You know, the prom. How about we go together?

Rory stared at the note for a second. He wanted to go to the graduation dance with her?! Did he mean as friends or something more? Did she want their relationship to be something more than friendship? Wait, why was she even thinking about the something more? This was Tristan for crying out loud. Gathering her thoughts, she decided with a safe answer.

Tristan watched nervously as she read the note. He had taken a chance to let her know his real feelings. Although it was the beginning of the year and prom wasn't until the end of the year, he had needed to ask her now. He wanted to be with her on the biggest night of their high school lives. It would kill him if she went with anyone else. But by asking he stood the chance of her rejecting him and ending their friendship. Her hair slid down and covered her face so her reaction went unseen. Looking at the note that just landed on his desk, he picked it up and slowly opened it.

Hmmm is the ever present King of Chilton trying to ensure a date for prom even though he knows the entire female student body would love to be his date? :)

Tristan let out a small sigh. She hadn't taken him seriously. So he was still her friend, which was good, but it hurt because he wanted to be so much more. Shaking his head a little, he decided to give it a more time. He didn't want to ruin their friendship. He quickly scribbled something and threw it back.

Can you blame a man for trying to make sure he'll have intelligent conversation during the evening? Plus you'll keep me from getting bored. I mean Mr. Chandler is going to be the guest speaker, and look at what he's done to the class! Imagine him doing a speech during the banquet!

Rory couldn't help but grin at the last remark. Quickly glancing around the classroom she noticed that almost everyone looked bored, and a good number of the students were falling asleep. Holding in her laughter, she quickly wrote something down and threw the note back to Tristan.

Ha ha ha. :) I can imagine a banquet hall filled with snoring people while Mr. Chandler drones on and on and on…it so funny!

Tristan noticed that she didn't comment about being his date. Did that mean she would go with him, or not? Was she ready for something more or was his mind just making something out of nothing? Just then the bell rang. Tristan picked up his books and walked to Rory's desk. As they walked out the door, Tristan lifted his arm to throw the note away. Rory suddenly grabbed his arm, stopping him. At his look she said casually, "Here, I'll throw it away."

Tristan shrugged and gave her the note. "See you at lunch?"

"Yup. Meet you at the usual place." Rory said as they turned in different directions. Making sure Tristan didn't see her, she folded up the note and stuck it into her bag. For some reason, she had felt the need to keep it. Telling herself that she would figure it all out later, she walked down the hall and into her next class.

~Later that day~

Rory walked into her room and dumped her backpack on the floor with a groan. Reaching into the bag she took out the note from earlier that day. Why was this note on her thoughts? Why was she so affected by it? I mean it was Tristan for crying out loud! 'And that's why it has such an effect on you' a voice said in the back of her head. Rory sighed. What did this mean anyway? And did she even think about Tristan like that? What was Tristan to her? "Aaaaahhhh, this is all so confusing!"

"What's so confusing hon?" Lorelai said as she popped into Rory's room.

"Ahhh, mom! Jeez! You scared me."

"Sorry, so what's confusing?"

Rory sighed and handed over the note for her mom to read. Lorelai skimmed over the note and put it down. "So, I ask again, what's confusing?"

"Mom, that note is confusing."

"How so?"

"Because I don't know what he means by it."

"Well what do you think he means by it?"

"I don't know! I think he may be serious, but he might also be joking…oh I don't know."

"And it confuses you because…?"

"It doesn't, I was just curious."

"Sure hon, like I believe that. I think it bothers you because you're not sure about how you feel about him." Lorelai said in a sing song voice.

"That's not true!" Rory exclaimed, but relented at her mom's look. "Okay so maybe…alright so yeah I don't know how I feel about him. I mean he's such a great friend. He's always there to listen, and he makes me laugh, and he's great to argue with. He helps me have fun, and he brings me coffee, and he is so sweet. When he's being serious he gets this deep look in his eyes, and when he laughs it's like his whole face brightens……oh my god!" Rory shouted as she jumped off her bed.

"What sweetie?" Lorelai asked smiling.

"I just realized I like Tristan!"

"Finally! I mean really, I love you and everything, but sometimes, you're just a little dense." Lorelai said as she gave Rory a hug. "So what are you going to do?"

"I don't know mom, I don't know."

~That's it…for now anyway. :) To explain a little, Tristan was asking Rory to prom/graduation dance way way in advance. The prom/graduation dance is at the end of the year. He just wanted to ensure that they would spend the biggest night of their high school lives together, because he can't have it any other way. :) Aaaawwww isn't that sweet? Hee hee. Hopefully the next chapters will be out soon. But keep up with the reviews! Let's aim for 50 this time. The reviews seem to help fight off my writer's block :). And thanks again to all those who sent such lovely and helpful reviews. I really appreciated it. You guys are the best! :)~