Title: Imagine Me Without You (Chapter 2)

Pairing: TRORY

Summary: you have to read the story to figure that out. This is for all you TRORY fans :)

Disclaimer: I don't own any of them. Just an obsessed TRORY-aholic. I am however highly upset that Tristan and Rory couldn't even share one last kiss because BEAN was there! The title of this series was inspired by Jaci Veasquez's Imagine Me Without You. It's such a pretty song!

E-mail: gigi@xquisite.net

Etc: This is my first fan-fic. I appreciate "constructive" critcism. Love Gigi



Chapter 2: It's Over

Our ten-month anniversary is this Friday and I'm not the slightest bit excited. I'd rather sit at Chilton with Paris throwing daggers at me then go out this Friday to "celebrate". Every month for our anniversary (when I remind him anyways), we just do what we do every other day: go out to Luke's to eat and walk around Stars Hollow. Why do I bother? Dean doesn't even remember our anniversary. At first, it hurt that he could purposely forget something important like that but after our fifth month of being back together, I just quit reminding him. Look at that; it's been 10 months and I'm unhappy. I miss having what we used to have. It couldn't have been love that brought as back together; I sputtered the words "I Love You" out on purpose to get him back because I had wallowed for him. He got to hear what he wanted to hear. And now that we're together, I don't have any more sparks left, for him that is. *sigh* I think it's time that we break-up; our relationship isn't going anywhere. It's not fair to me if I'm not happy and it's not fair for him to not care. I actually tried to work the differences out and it was no use. Dean doesn't see what's wrong or if there is anything wrong at all. I'm not trying to be cruel but I think Friday is the day to tell him it's over between us. Not because he dumped me on our 3-month anniversary but because I think I'll be ready by then.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------

"Oh honey, you look so beautiful. Come here, I just HAVE to take a picture of you. Actually, let me take 24 and then we can finally develop the film."

As Lorelai searched under her lack-therefore-of-a bed for the camera, Rory finished up the final touches on her makeup in her room. Of course, she didn't need that much. It's how she liked things; minimal and simple. Since her skin was smooth as a petal, there was no need for foundation or concealer. She smudged a dark charcoal color onto her eyelids with a hint of gold-color. Her dazzling eyes were lined with a dark eyeliner and a coat of mascara, while her lips were coated with a neutral, pink-tinted gloss. Although conservative most of the time, Rory decided to wear something more "nice" for the evening. The clingy, tan mid-length dress with quarter- sleeves accentuated her curves, sure to not be too revealing, brought out the azure in her eyes. Very elegant indeed. Her hair had been curled into soft waves, which she had decided to pin up. It looked piecey and a bit messy but nonetheless sultry, with several tendrils falling down. To complete the attire, she clasped the gold neclace her mother had given her almost a year ago and matched it with a tiny pair of gold, heart-shaped studs. She pressed her right hand to her cheek and looked into the mirror and agreed what she saw in the mirror was pleasing to her. With a splash of her Clinique-Happy perfume and slipping into her strappy-tan sandals, she stepped out of her room, where she was greeted by a flash.

"AH! 'Let there be light' was an understatement. Gosh Mom, could you BE any closer?"

"Shush, 23 more to go."

"Mom? How do I look? Is it too J-Hoe?"

"Not J-Hoe-E at all. A bit Jennifer-Huge-Tits with the eyeliner and eyeshadow but you're a keeper. Would you like to stuff a chastity belt in your purse while you're at it?"

"MOM!"

"I'm kidding sweetheart. You look gorgeous, so, Audrey Hepburn. Now cheese like you've never cheesed before!"

A slight grin overcame Rory's face. Her mom had always told her that she was beautfiul but never believed it. Mothers were supposed tell their daughters that they were beautiful but somehow, she believed it. Rory smoothed her hair once more while Lorelai continued to eye her from head to toe with camera in hand.

She examined her babe and saw that her little girl was growing up. Lorelai saw so much in Rory that it almost scared her. Even though she trusted Rory, she wasn't quite sure about Dean. In the beginning, Lorelai was glad for Rory, since she got back with Dean. But for the past few months, more than evident to Lorelai, Rory was unhappy with where her relationship had gone with Dean. She was more restless, bored even, and Lorelai didn't have to ask. She could tell when her daughter was upset and just by looking at her that exact moment, she could tell Rory was upset.

"So Ror, where are you two honey-pots planning to spend this wonderful occasion at? Tell me you're not going out looking like that to Luke's."

Rory was hesitant to answer, as well as stare Lorelai in the face, because Lorelai knew when something was wrong.

"Oh, I don't know. I called him up earlier and said that I wanted to go somewhere more "nice", a different pace of change and scenery. So I think we might be driving up to Hartford."

Before Lorelai could ask if there was anything wrong with Rory, the Gilmore residence's door bell echoed. Dean was there. Lorelai briefly stared at Rory, who was staring back, giving her the you-don't-have-to-go-out-if-you- don't-want-to stare. Oh, if only had it been so easy to just say no to Dean.

With one more turn to examine Rory, Lorelai flashed her the two-thumbs up and both Gilmores scooted into the living room. Lorelai plopped onto the couch and fumbled with the camera while Rory walked up to the front door with her hands on her waist. She was nervous. Wait, not nervous; scared. Yeah, that's it, scared. Scared or not, she had to open up the door and face Dean. She placed her hand on the gold doorknob and slowly turned it and pulled back to find a crisp-clean Dean stading there with a boquet of daisies.

"Hey beautiful, Happy 8th Month Anniversary, these are for you---whoa, you look hot!", tossing the daisies onto the ground after catching just one glimpse of the beauty standing before him. He pulled Rory into his arms and placed his forceful kiss onto her lips.

"Hey Narcolepsy boy, you're smudging her makeup! Now CHEESE!"

Rory tried to pose herself on time but both Dean and Rory were sure to look dumbfounded in that picture as Lorelai snapped at that very moment. Dean bowed down to pick up the boquet of daisies and handed them to Lorelai, who walked right into the kitchen

"Hey beautiful, I'm going to go freshen up, k? I'll be back. Damn you look hot." Dean walked away and turned once to look at Rory, admiring her "feautures".

Once he was out of sight, Rory ran into the kitchen, where Lorelai was placing the daisies individually into an odd-shaped vase.

"Mom, he's staring at me.", whispering, yet audible.

"Well, I would think so, considering that you're dolled-up and his girlfriend."

"But, it's scary. I don't like it when he does that. It's...it's..."

:"Gross? Uninviting? The look of I'm going-to-grab-your-ass kind of look?"

"Something along those lines. Mom, he doesn't know---"

"Yes he doesn't know. He doesn't know how to pick daisies! Look at that!", Lorelai picking up a dried-out daisy or two, cutting off the stems with a knife.

"Listen to me. He doesn't know that I'm going to break up with him tonight."

A expression-less face formed on Lorelai's face and she turned to the sink.

"Honey, I hope you know what you're doing. I don't want you to get hurt again, because if you do, Dean won't live to have another generation succeeding him. I want you to be happy and if this is a step in that direction, I'm all for it babe." She turned back to face her darling and placed a hand on the hand of her child.

"Ready to go milady?" Dean asked as he extended his hand to Rory, as both Gilmore girls stared on.

Rory lended her hand to her soon-to-be ex-boyfriend and walked out the kitchen and into the front doorway. Dean didn't wait for her to get her purse or put on her coat. He let go of her hand and proceeded out the door and into the car. Rory slipped into her coat, with purse in hand, and walked out the door. She turned once and saw Lorelai standing in the doorway, mouthing the words, "Eight-month anniversary?! I thought it was ten!" Rory rolled her eyes, flashed her pearly-whites, and slipped into the car.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------

The drive to Hartford was spent in silence (speaking terms anyways). Dean had blared Slipknot the whole half-an-hour and he couldn't tell that I was annoyed. He'd look over at me a few times and he'd smile. It made me uncomfortable but Dean didn't seem to notice. I'd just look out the window, staring at the cars going in the opposite direction, wishing that I was in one of those cars.

Dinner wasn't so bad. We ate at some fancy restaurant in Hartford and well, I can see why we never went to any fancy restaurants that required a coat and tie. When we first arrived at Chapparel, known for its French cuisine, the date started out ok. Dean was being quite the gentleman, opening my door, escorting me to the door, pulling out my chair...That was in the beginning. When our waiter asked us if we wanted to have any h'ourderves served, Dean spoke on my behalf and said, "Yes." in a expertise-kind-of- sounding voice. The waiter came back with two platters of h'ourderves; one was of pasta shells, stuffed with cream cheese and chives and the other was of brie cheese topped on top of rare salmon, delicately placed on crackers. Dean used his 5-year-old whining voice to tell the waiter that the display was "ugly" and betted that it tasted "ugly". The waiter snorted his nose and walked away to cover other orders while I munched on the h'ourderves. I didn't seem to have a problem with them. Dean asked how I could eat such "grossies" and replied, "You bought them, remember?" He continued to whine, loudly that is. Those whines were returned with ugly looks from neighboring customers and I was SO embarassed. He was whining and playing, literally playing, with the h'ourderves. He gave them sounds and names and whined "eww" throughout the whole evening.

Dean had ordered for both of us steak because he claimed that "Those silly French people could poison your food, you know!". I thought the big steak would shut him up and it did. Sort of. He was chowing down on the steak like there was no tomorrow. I never thought that anyone could make sounds while they were eating but Dean proved me wrong. He made it seem like he had been famished for ages. Before dessert came around, Dean said that he wanted to bail. And so we did. Things after that did not go according to plan and what happened next was not expected.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------

[Back In Stars Hollow]

"Dean, it's kind of getting late. I think I should be getting home." She was lying. She just wanted to get away from him and break up with him later. It was only 11:00 and Dean had asked Lorelai in advance if Rory could stay out a little bit later for their anniversary. Sadly, Lorelai agreed and Rory silently cursed her mom for agreeing to such a thing. Rory made it a habit to stare out the window so she wouldn't have to look at Dean. For some reason, the drive back to Stars Hollow was taking very long, longer than usual.

When they reached Stars Hollow, Dean drove back to his place, not too far down from her house. She didn't want to go to his house, she just wanted to go home but couldn't find the words to say anything up front. As he put the car in park, he turned to Rory, who was still looking out the passenger window. She could feel him staring at her and she felt obligated to turn to look at him. He was doing it again; the stare that was unwelcome. He eyed her closely, keeping note that she looked down the whole time.

"Come on, let's go inside."

Her gut instinct was to tell him that they needed to talk but his comment was returned with a questionable, "Umm, ok."

Both of them got out of the vehicle and proceeded to the front door, where Dean fumbled with his keys. Rory stood aloof in the crisp night air, looking down at the floor and twidling her fingers in her coat pockets. She knew it was wrong to go inside his house but what could she say? Dean finally managed to unlock the front door. Clearly, no one was home. The house was uninviting...cold. Dean didn't bother to turn on the lights and grabbed Rory's hand, leading her up the stairway. Rory was feeling unsure and scared and Dean was taking her further and further away from the outside. After standing in the hallway for quite a bit, Dean snapped on a light; the light to his bed room.

She eyed Dean's room with precaution, unaware of what was lingering inside. Dean had stepped into his room, removing his maroon sweater, to reveal a wife beater underneath. That move made her feel uncomfortable and her fear was growing deep inside. *Why were they in his house alone? Where was his family? Should I even be here?* She was still in his doorway and was only summoned in when he motioned for her to come in. She managed to step over several dirty clothes and back-issues of Marvel comics on the floor. Dean had sat down on his bed, patting the space to his right for Rory to sit on.

"Dean, I don't think we should be here. I'm feeling uncomfortable."

He smirked at the obviously scared Rory and somehow he liked whatever he was doing to her. He knew that Rory never questioned his actions and saw that he scared her in a way no one else could. And it was working. What a naive girl she was.

"We're not doing anything wrong beautiful. Come on, sit down. We don't have to do anything you don't want to."

She was surprised to hear those words come out of his mouth but only Dean knew that he didn't mean what he said. Rory hesistently sat down right next to her boyfriend and once again, stared straight ahead. She stared at anything but Dean.

Her scent was intoxicating, a scent of innocence and beauty that drove him wild. She stared on while he observed her closely. He knew that he was more than lucky to have Rory and knew deep down that he didn't deserve Rory but he took pride in knowing that "Triscuit" could never have her. Never. He was determined to "have her" that night and no one else was going to take her away from him

Rory knew that she had to act fast before things could go any further. She was ready to talk and Dean saw this. Little did Rory know, Dean ddn't want to spend the evening talking; he wanted to spend the evening, if possible, with little talking or less. He pressed his finger to her lips and spoke.

"Beautiful, you look a little tense. Let me massage your shoulders."

Her hand movements and protests were ignored by Dean, as he proceeded to go in back of her, placing his hands on her firm shoulders. She closed her eyes and prayed that nothing bad would happen.

"Ok, Dean, there's something that's been bothering me lately *stop massaging me already* and I feel that I can tell you anything. We've been together for quite awhile now and I feel that I need to share this with you. I have to know how you feel or else we can't proceed..."

As Rory spoke on, Dean was getting frustrated that she kept on talking and talking. He would mumble "Mmm-hmms" and "Yeahs" and her words started to sound like a bunch of mumbo-jumbo babble. He would place tiny kisses on Rory's smooth neck while he inhaled her scent. It sent shivers of fear down her neck and she tried to hide it. But she couldn't and that was the final straw. She turned to see a bored-out-of-his mind Dean.

"Dean?! Are you even listening to what I've got to say?"

"Why don't you just downsize the time and tell me what this is all about because I'm friggin' lost. I thought, you know...we were going to do it."

With shocked repression she got off the bed.

"Excuse me, what the hell makes you think you're going to get any from me?" anger flaring her angelic face.

"Well hello, you did come in my house, my room, you let me feel up on you...I mean, look at the way you're dressed."

"Oh hell no! That, under no circumstances, would I ever give you some just because I willingly came into your room. And as far as what I'm wearing, PLEASE. Your reasoning, ugh, I can't even say. Is that all you wanted? To get some?"

"You know I love you, I just think that we should.."

"Move to the next level. Now I understand."

"Well, don't you think it's about time Rory? For chrissakes, we're teenagers! We're horny! And you can't deny it; we're boring together. It's been months and frankly, I'm bored as hell. I thought that if we moved on to the next level that we'd get closer, keep us alive. Apparently the idea appauls you."

"You're right. It does. You don't seem to understand that I'm not ready for what you're asking for. And while we're at it, let me tell you how I feel."

"Rory, don't spin into another dimension. You know who's fault this is and it isn't me."

His words only seemed to anger her more and he could see in her eyes that she wasn't going to easily let go of this one.

"I can't believe you. You don't see the problem, do you? I'm frustrated with YOU and US. You are right, I am bored out of my fucking mind. I'm 16 years old and I fucking feel like I'm 16 going on 40. I don't seem to feel what I used to feel for you anymore, we don't communicate. You don't treat me or my thoughts or my feelings with any respect. Hell, you don't even treat me like a friend! And you have the nerve to say all that's happened is MY fault? God Dean, you are so damn trasnparent!"

"So that's it, huh? You quit on us like that? Well hell Rory, do you even still want to stay together?"

She knew this was her moment to tell him how she felt. It was her moment to lift off so much pressure on her shoulders, pressure that she didn't need. If anything, she wanted to select words that were straight to the point.

"I got back with you in the first place because I missed you. I stayed with you because I wanted to work it out. I...said 'I Love You' so that you would take me back and you did, because that's what you wanted me to say.", swallowing gulps of air in between, "That's when I realized it was a mistake Dean. Can't you see that this is not going to work. We're on two different paces and---"

"We can work this out Rory, just let me---just tell me what you want"

"Dean.......no. It's not going to work. You want what I'm not ready for and if that's what you really want, I can't give it to you."

Dean stared at her innocene and naivety with cold eyes and asked of one request before he knew that he had to let her go. He just wanted to know if she at least did love him and if she trully hated Tristan.

"Did you love me Rory? Did you mean it when you told Tristan that you hated him?"

Rory didn't understand how Tristan had gotten incorporated into the subject but while they were on it, she felt then at ease to answer anything in the world, right there and then.

"Yes and no."

"What? Yes, no, what?! Rory, tell me!"

"No. I didn't mean any of it at all that day in the courtyard. None of it."

It was the last thing that she wanted to say but it had drove Dean over the wall. She didn't love him at all and it drove him mad. She tried to walk out the door but he threw her back on the bed and tried to force himself on her. If he couldn't have all of her, he wanted at least that moment to have her. As he tried to rip her dress off, she managed to give him something she thought she'd never give anyone; a sock right in the face. He fell back onto the floor and tenderly touched the welted spot.

"Gosh, if I had known you were going to be a pyschopathic, controlling, cock-tease, I would've never..."

"Dean, just save it."getting up to pick up her coat.

"God you are such a BITCH! What the hell is your fucking problem?!"

"You Dean, are MY fucking problem."

"No one is ever going to love you the way I did Rory. NO ONE."

His words struck a nerve in her, like she almost believed it. But she wasn't going to let Dean have the last word.

"I hate you." Words that once again resurfaced onto the tip of her tongue.

"No you don't.", grinning with glee at a furious Rory.

Dean was still on the ground when Rory decided to do something else she thought she'd never do. She kicked him where it hurt most; the groin! Dean scrunced up like a baby and stared up at Rory who was hovering over him.

"I don't hate you......But give it time."

Rory Gilmore triumphantly walked out of the scumbag's house and down the street to her residence. That was it; Rory and Dean were over. And not surprisingly enough, she felt good and smiled.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------

END CHAPTER 2