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Something To Remember
by inmyeyes
Part 11
It was almost like a replay of the previous week; he was seated in one of those hard, uncomfortable hospital chairs, waiting to hear word on Rory's condition. He leaned forward, propping his elbows on his knees. He just hoped she was all right.
"Tristan," came a small voice from above him.
He looked up and saw Rory smiling weakly at him. Jumping up, he engulfed her in his arms and felt his heart start to beat faster as he felt her reciprocate the gesture. "I was so worried. Are you feeling all right?"
Rory inhaled his scent as she leaned her head against his shoulder, enjoying his warmth. "Yeah, I'm feeling okay now. The doctor prescribed me some medicine for the headaches."
He pulled away slightly from her, his eyes concerned when they met hers. "Are the headaches serious?"
She shook her head. "No, they're just because of the concussion. They'll go away in time. The doctor was just worried about the intensity of the pain, that's all."
He kissed the top of her head and pulled her back into a quick hug. "Okay then. Let's get out of here."
Ten minutes later, Tristan was desperately trying to think of a way to break the impenetrable haze of silence in the car. Sighing quietly, he tapped his fingers on the steering wheel impatiently as he waited for the light to turn green. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Rory fidget restlessly and he caught the quick frown that she threw his way. He turned to her, wanting to say something but was cut off by the sound of a horn. Looking forward, he took his foot off the brake as he realized that the light had changed, biting his lip in frustration.
The heavy silence hung for a few moments before her voice broke it. "Tristan?"
"Hmm?" he mumbled, keeping his concentration on the traffic.
"Thank you," was her muttered reply.
At her words, he gave her a quick questioning look, noticing the sincerity shining from her eyes.
"For taking me to the hospital," she explained. There was a slight pause and Tristan knew that she had more to say. "And," her voice had turned soft. "For caring."
Taken by surprise at her last words, he swallowed the lump in his throat and quelled the hope rising in his chest. "You're welcome."
They lapsed into silence again, but this time, it was a relatively more comfortable one.
Rory fiddled with her hands, her nerves frayed. Being in such proximity with him put her on edge. Tilting her side to the side, she examined his profile, taking note of the strong line of his jaw, those soft lips, the girlishly long eyelashes and the tousled mass of blonde hair. In the recesses of her mind, she readily admitted that he was beautiful. Her throat went dry when his lips curled up into a knowing smile, acknowledging her gaze. Embarrassed, she tore her eyes away and shifted her attention to the scenery passing them by.
"Tristan," she began, her tone conveying her uncertainty. "I think we should talk. We need to talk."
He turned to her and arched his brow mockingly. He threw her words back in her face. "I thought you said that you didn't have anything to say to me. I thought you didn't want to hear what I have to say."
Rory sighed, rubbing her eyes wearily. "We need to talk," she repeated, this time her voice was firmer. She faced him and saw the tense set of his jaw. "Look Tristan, don't play games with me. Either we-"
"Fine, he cut her off. He took a deep breath, telling himself not to get worked up. "We'll talk." 'Of course,' he thought. 'Now that I don't feel like talking, she wants to talk.'
Moments later, Tristan turned into one of the many parking lots at the park and eased into an empty space. Turning off the engine, he turned to her and waited expectantly. "So, talk."
Rory felt her annoyance flare up at the arrogant and closed-off look on his face. Moving closer to him, she leaned forward and jabbed her finger at his chest. "Don't you dare act the victim, DuGrey!"
His expression didn't change. "You said that we needed to talk. So, talk."
Rory clenched her jaw, fighting the urge to slap him. She shook her head at him and sneered. "I should have known you'd be like this. I should have known better than to think that the Tristan I knew this weekend was the real Tristan."
"Don't say that you know me when you know nothing, Mary," he retorted. "You don't know anything about me!"
She threw her hands up in frustration. "God, you make the transition from caring and concerned to asshole in three seconds flat!" Her voice dripped with sarcasm. "How do you do that? Inquiring minds want to know..."
"I am not-" he broke off and gave a growl of frustration, his fingers clawing through his hair. This was not happening the way he wanted it to.
"Damnit, Tristan. Just... ugh." She narrowed her eyes at him in anger before getting out of the car and slamming the door close. At that sound, Tristan closed his eyes and leaned his head on the steering wheel, telling himself to get things right.
He was the most infuriating, mule-headed, annoying, unreasonable, arrogant jerk ever. That's what he was. And to think that she had considered... she shook her head resolutely. She wouldn't. That little episode in the car told her how wrong her rationale had been. Tristan and her... they could never work out. No matter how she felt, or what she hoped would happen... no matter what, eventually they would fall apart. It was better to save herself the heartbreak. Pushing away the rush of hurt and disappointment that threatened to overwhelm her, she shifted her eyes to the ground and blinked away the tears that she knew would come.
A moment later, she heard the sound of another door slamming before she felt the touch of his hands on her shoulders. Determined to be stubborn, she kept her eyes on the ground and her arms crossed.
"Rory..."
The sound of his soft, apologetic voice almost sent her resolve crumbling. She blinked furiously, telling herself that she wouldn't let him see her cry. She bit her cheek as she felt his fingers move up her throat before he tipped her chin up when their eyes met.
"I'm sorry."
The whispered words were her undoing; her tight hold on her emotions broke and she felt tears silently slide down her cheeks. The tears came faster as she felt his thumbs gently wipe them away before he lightly kissed the tear stains marring her smooth skin.
Praying that her voice wouldn't break, she asked, "What are you sorry for, Tristan?"
"I'm sorry that I lied to you."
Her smile was wry and he could tell that some part of her was mocking him. "No, you're not."
He rested his arms on both sides of her head, effectively trapping her against the car. Then he leaned forward and rested his forehead on her shoulder, letting out a low chuckle. "You know me too well. I'm not sorry about what happened between us. I could never be sorry about that. But I am sorry that I lied to you."
She let him stay there for a while but did not allow herself the satisfaction of wrapping her arms around him. She inhaled deeply, enjoying the feel of him so close to her before lightly pushing him away. When his eyes landed on hers, she said, "No, that's the thing, Tristan." She paused and he could see the hurt in her eyes. "I don't know you too well. You said it yourself; I don't know you at all. How-"
He reached out, grasping her arms and lightly shaking her as though hoping that he could shake some sense into her. "No, no. That's where you're wrong. During that weekend, you knew more of me than anyone else could never have learnt during that same thing. You knew so much more than I let anyone see."
She shook her head. "Tristan-"
"Rory, it may have started with a lie. But I swear to you... everything else was true. Everything I said, everything I did... and everything I felt, it was all true. None of it was a lie." When she didn't say anything, his eyes widened in desperation. "Rory, you have to believe me."
"I know," was her whispered answer.
"Rory-"
"Look, let's just put what happened behind us," she suggested, keeping her eyes away from his so that he wouldn't see how hard this was for her to say. "It happened and we'll move on from it."
Swallowing the lump that had taken up residence in his throat, he nodded numbly. A part of him wanted to scream at her, asking her how she could just put all those feelings and actions behind her while at the same time, another part of him was telling him to take what he could get, a part of him that was overwhelmed with relief that she was willing to forgive him.
"I mean, what happened just shows that we can get along," her words stumbled on. "That we can be friends." She ignored the bittersweet taste of that word in her mouth. Friends.
Somehow he found his voice. "Yeah, friends." He tried to smile. "Of course, we can be friends." Friends was better than nothing. Sure, it was less than what he wanted... but...
"Right," she agreed.
For a moment, the pair just stood there and it seemed like more was said in those few seconds than what had been said in the past few minutes. Apologies, excuses, reassurances... they were all passed in that single contact of their eyes.
Clearing his throat, Tristan was the first to speak. "So, I guess I should take you home." She smiled and the action tore at his heart. Friends.
"Yeah, I guess you should."
(Later. Gilmore house. Stars Hollow)
"So this is your solution?"
"Yup. That's my solution."
Lane gave her friend an incredulous look. "No, it doesn't solve anything, Rory."
"Yeah, it does," Rory disagreed. "I've got a new friend. And I still have my boyfriend."
There was a short silence as Lane carefully looked over Rory. Tossing Lane a weird look, she fidgeted uncomfortably and let out a disgruntled "What?".
"I was just wondering..." Lane said casually, immediately arousing Rory's suspicion.
"Wondering what?"
"Denial must have a lot of coffee to make you wanna take up permanent residence there."
Rory let out a "hmmph" sound and crossed her arms, her eyes defiant. "I am not in denial."
"You're good at Math, right?" Lane asked and waited for Rory's nod before going. "Well, you missed out one thing in your equation."
Rory sighed. "What did I miss out?"
"You forgot to factor in your feelings for Tristan," she pointed out.
"I did," was Rory's protest. "See.... Rory plus Tristan equals friends."
Lane smirked. "It must be nice there in denial."
All she got in response was a cushion aimed at her head.
(DuGrey residence. Hartford)
He wanted to laugh at his desperation, but he needed to get things out before the dam in him broke. Impatient, he tapped his fingers on his bedside table and he waited for someone on the other end to pick up the phone.
"Hi, may I speak to Paris?"
"Tristan." He was surprised that she could recognize his voice. "How's Rory?"
"She's fine. The headaches were side-effects of the accident. Nothing too serious; the doctor gave her some medicine for it."
"Accident? What accident?"
Tristan sighed. "Listen Paris... remember when you said that if I needed a friend, I could come to you?"
"Yeah, I remember."
"Well, I need a friend."
On the other end of the line, Paris suppressed a loud sigh. 'Why are you such a sucker for him?' She smiled ruefully, knowing exactly what, or rather who, it was he wanted to talk about. "Tell me everything."
(A little while later. Luke's. Stars Hollow)
"Luke, can I get a glass of water here?"
The request made him freeze in shock for a second before he reacted. "Did I just hear you ask for water?"
Lorelai rolled her eyes and raised her voice. "Yes Luke, I asked for water."
Muttering "smartass" under his breath, he reached over and poured a glass of water before handing it to Lorelai.
She smiled innocently and passed the water to Rory. "Can I have coffee?"
"Didn't you just ask for water?"
Lorelai raised her voice again. "Yes, I did. But that's for Rory. I want coffee."
Luke rolled his eyes. "Cut it out."
Lorelai just grinned and gave Luke a mock salute when he finally gave her the much-needed coffee. Turning to Rory, she saw that the glass of water had remained untouched. "Rory, dear, take your medicine."
"I don't wanna," she whined.
"After what happened today-"
"Okay, okay," Rory gave in and took the medicine that had been prescribed to her.
"Good doggy," Lorelai praised, petting Rory on her head. She laughed at the dirty look at Rory shot her. "Speaking of doggies, here comes yours."
Rory turned and saw that Dean had just entered the diner. "Mom!"
"I know, I know... that was mean," she said. "But it was funny, wasn't it?"
"Stop it! I'm gonna go over there and talk to him."
"Good luck!" Lorelai called out. "I'll get Luke to send over some doggy treats." She just innocently took a sip of her coffee, ignoring Rory's chastising look.
"Hey," she said, smiling tentatively as she stood in front of him.
"Hey." His greeting was punctuated by a quick kiss on her lips.
They sat down at an empty table and there was an awkward silence as Rory tried to find the guts to say what she needed to say.
"I have something to tell you," she said, her fingers shredding a napkin into tiny strips. Her fingers were stilled when his hand settled on top of hers. Biting her lip, she looked up to meet his eyes.
"That sounds bad." His tone was teasing but she saw the genuine worry in his eyes. Trying to reassure him, she squeezed his hand before letting it go.
"It's not as bad it sounds, believe me."
"Okay. Tell me."
Rory took a deep breath. "There was something I didn't tell you about this weekend. On Thursday, I kinda got into this minor car accident and I got a concussion... and I had temporary amnesia."
"Why-"
She shook her head. "Can you please hear me out first?" Without waiting for him to answer, she went on. "I'm fine now, I just have some headaches here and there. Anyways, I stayed with at my grandparents' house the entire weekend. And I spent some time with Tristan."
At the mention of Tristan's name, Rory saw Dean visibly stiffen. She hurried on with her explanation. "He was the one who found me. He was the one who called the ambulance and was there with me. And he was the one who kept me company that weekend." She braced herself for the outright lie that was going to leave her lips. "Nothing happened, Dean."
Rory held her breath as she waited for him to say something but nothing came. "That's why I was acting a little weird when I first came back. I was trying to get my bearings back. That's all. And I want you to know that Tristan and I are friends now... and I'd like it if you could respect that."
"Nothing happened?"
She tried to smile reassuringly. "Nothing happened."
"Are you all right?"
This time, her smile was genuine. "My head aches sometimes, but otherwise I'm fine."
"You sure?"
She reached out to touch his cheek and saw him relax a little. "Yeah, I'm sure." Reaching into her pocket, she dug out the bottle of pills she had to take and shook it. "I have these now."
Laughing lightly, Dean grinned and leaned forward to catch her lips in a slow kiss. Closing her eyes, Rory returned it and fought not to pull back when Tristan's image burned her mind.
The sound of Luke clearing his throat pulled them apart. Rory tried not to laugh at the disapproving look Luke gave him and the way Dean shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
"What's with your mom saying something about doggy treats?" he asked, confused.
On that note, the laughter that had been building in her burst out. "Umm," she choked out. "I have no idea."
When she finally managed to stop laughing, her eyes caught Dean's and a gasp was lodged in her throat when she noticed the adoring look in his eyes.
Lane was wrong; her solution was perfect.
A.N : Okay. Please don't kill me. This will be a Trory story.
Repeat it
with me: "This will be a Trory story."
I am evil. I know.