"It's obvious. Paris has implanted her spies to ensure you weren't dieing of not living in the Plaza penthouse." Rory said with a shrug. "Where's the ice cream?"

  "Couldn't get it, Louise was still there. I got the pizza, though." Tristan tried to make up for it.

  "Eh, don't worry about it. You shouldn't have to go with two encounters of women you hope to never meet." Rory chirped, picking up the coffee and downing it in seconds.

  "Huh?"

  "Lorelei and Louise." Rory replied simply. "Anyway, we can just go on a splurge at the place down the street."

  "Both of us?" Tristan asked, raising an eyebrow wearily.

  "I am not royalty. I do not refer to myself as we if I don't mean two or more persons are going." Rory muttered, rolling her eyes. "Lorelei, on the other hand.."

  Tristan smirked. "Somebody's broken down the English language for my benefit."

  Rory looked at him innocently. "It's not my fault you're stupid."

  "I am your coffee boy." He reminded her.

  "This is my apartment."

  "Touché."

  "Thank you."

   "Ice cream is one of those things I never wanted to figure out how they made." Rory said after licking a bit of her chocolate chip cone.

  "Why?" Tristan asked, licking a bit of his own cone.

  "Do you really know what's in this stuff? What if it's like Jell-O, you know? Cow's hooves?" Rory asked. "What if they, like, use every bit of the cow that's left, add milk and sugar, and voila! You have ice cream!"

  "There goes the appetite." Tristan murmured. He was about to toss his cone in the trash, and Rory put a hand on his to stop him.

  "I was just kidding. Its cream, which is made out of churned milk, sugar, and flavoring." She explained, her free hand not leaving his.

  "Well, then, it might be worth saving." He whispered, inching closer to her.

  "We'll have to see, won't we?" She asked in a husky tone.

  Tristan had a feeling they weren't talking about ice cream anymore.

  She leaned in, and perhaps it was the overwhelming scent of the sugary dessert that was doing this to her, but he swore she was going to—

  "Tris!" Paris Gellar called across the street. Both ex-enemies straightened up automatically, looking like deer caught in the headlights.

  The blonde huffed across the street to catch up with the two. "Imagine running into you here."

  "Imagine." Rory grumbled. "I'm going back so I can let you two catch up."

  "Wait.." Tristan trailed off. Rory turned around to look at him, hoping pain wasn't trickling into her eyes, and Paris was glaring at him. "Stay. We all need to catch up."

  "There isn't anything she doesn't know about me from the country club circuit." Rory spat.

  "Well, trusting Louise Grant, I'm pretty sure everything about me is out in the open. Sorry, Par, we got to go. We've both got work tomorrow." Tristan caught up to Rory, and the two walked in silence until they were in front of their apartment.

  "You didn't have to do that." Rory muttered, not looking at him.

  He gently put a hand under her chin, cupping it and forcing her to have eye contact with him. "But I did. I had to get away from it all. That's why Tiffany kicked me out in the first place."

  Rory smiled. "At least one good thing came of it."

  He shook his head. "More than one good thing came of it. I had a chance to erase my past with you, I finally have freedom from both my parents and a horrible job, and.."

  He pulled her closer and gave her a soft kiss. "I have a chance with you."

  "I believe you finished the job I tried to do." Rory murmured, kissing him back.

A/N: Yeah, I know, short, but it is to be continued.