Disclaimer and A/N: Thank you for the positive response! Here you are.. Don't know where it's going, but it'll probably end up a Trory.
"Do you suppose this is what it would have been like?" Tristin asked, taking a bite of his bagel.
"What do you mean?" Rory browsed through the New York Times.
"If we were friends." Tristin replied. "At Chilton."
"Nah." Rory grunted. "If we were friends at Chilton, I'd probably be the one kicking you out of my townhouse as your ex-model and/or actress girlfriend."
"What about friends in college?" Tristin asked, sipping Rory's coffee.
"Completely intentional." Rory muttered, turning the page.
"What was?" Tristin was confused and the space between his eyebrows and above his nose wrinkled. Rory giggled.
"I avoided you every minute at NYU. Spotted your name on the dorm lists." Rory replied.
"You did a pretty good job. I had no idea you were in New York. Always thought you'd go to Harvard." Tristin shrugged it off. "Paris told me you'd be at Harvard."
"So you inquired about me?" Rory cockily raised her right eyebrow.
"Nah, she was grunting about life doesn't change except for the surroundings. Your name came up." Tristin tossed her a half-icy, half-warm gaze. "Sorry to burst your ego-trip bubble."
"It needed to be popped anyway. What are you doing in New York?" Rory looked at him sincerely.
"Besides the obvious? Well, let's see. I'm in insurance.. Or I was. That's why Tiffany kicked me out. Said I couldn't support myself any more. But that's hardly the case. I just got a job as an international business man- I'll be handling stocks. I'll be moving around quite a bit. But I can't leave New York. It's turned itself into my home." Tristin shot her another one of his half-icy, half-warm gazes. "What about you?"
"Writing for the New York Times, like I always wanted to do." Rory replied quietly, taking a sip of her coffee.
"You travel a lot?" Tristin asked.
"Only when I want to. I'm one of those slice-of-life writers. As long as I make the weekly deadline, my editor doesn't care. But he says if I'm off somewhere else, he pays for about a week, you know? Like it's a business trip or something." Rory replied.
Silence. Minus the chomping of chocolate scones and bagel sandwiches, and the occasional slurp of Rory's coffee.
"So, you got a place to stay?" Rory asked slyly.
"Are you offering me what I think you're offering me?" Tristin turned to face her.
Rory shrugged, hiding her delight in his positive response.
"Where do you live?" Tristin seemed to snap back into reality. "Because if it's too far away from Manhattan--.."
"Lovely view of the skyline." Rory told him. "I also work with the Today Show and Good Morning America."
Tristin sat back and chuckled. Taking another sip of Rory's near-empty coffee, he turned back to her. "Never pictured you as much of a morning person, Rory."
"No Mary? Where is that delightfully annoying Tristin Du Gray I know?" Rory's sarcasm zipped through one ear and out the other.
Apparently, it didn't phase him. "I got beat up a couple of times in military school for being too cocky. So I gave up on it."
"I'm not a morning person. They just provide me with lots and lots of coffee." Rory replied.
"Two bedroom?"
"Would I let you stay if it weren't? I didn't think the king of luxury could sleep on a couch." Rory zinged.
"Well? What are we waiting for?" Tristin asked impatiently.
"Just a sec. Five.. Four.. Three.. Two.. One." Three other suitcases flew out the window.
"I'll hail a cab while you get your stuff." Rory said, getting up and snatching her coffee cup out of Tristin's hands.
"Do take care of the bagel bag, will you?" Rory asked politely.
Tristin Du Gray was stunned.