Imagine Me Without You (Chapter 9)

Title: Imagine Me Without You (Chapter 9)
Author: gigi
Rating: I am not responsible for any kind of rating. But for safety, this one has cussing in it, so R it is!
Summary: you have to read to find that out. The title of this series was inspired by Jaci Velasquez's
ballad "Imagine Me Without You". It's long, I know, but, give me credit!
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for MY story line. James aka Cards, Will, Kevin, Evelyn, and Christian are copyright of my imagination.
E-mail: gigi@xquisite.net
Etc.: When I type out everything I want, sometimes I lose that flare and don't want to continue for awhile. And sometimes, when I do decide to pick up where I left off, I forget how I wanted to continue the storyline! So, bare with me if the story line gets a bit floozy. And don't worry: this is a TRORY fic! It may not seem like it, but it is! Trust me! I would never want to see those two on Earth with anybody else!

Chatper 9: The Date

"Honey? I said coffee two times. I don't have to yell out 'coffee!' more than once in this household to you. What's wrong? You didn't go into withdrawl, did you? Because if you did, I might as well start you on your way to alcohol!" Lorelai perked behind Rory's bedroom door. She saw her daughter brushing her hair in front of the vanity mirror, looking absently at the dried daisy from weeks earlier.

Looking up at the mirror, she saw Lorelai in the background making funny faces, quacking her hands in chatter-motion, mouthing 'red-rum! red-rum!'. Letting out a laugh, Lorelai smiled when she knew her job was done and walked up behind Rory.

"So kiddo, where you off to tonight?" placing her hands on the shoulders of her mini-me.

"Date."

"Date? With who? Do I know him?" Lorelai inquired.

Do I know him? The words rattled her over and over again. She frowned at the thought of her and Tristan's semi-argument.

"No, you don't know him." Lorelai could tell that she wasn't at ease. Rory got up from the vanity mirror and grasped her hair to pull it back into a clip. She stood in front of Lorelai for some kind of approval of her attire. For the evening, she wore low-cut dirty-gray low-rise jeans and a plain white quarter-length tee. What used to be the waist-band of the pants had been cut and now been fringed out, bringing out a vintage yet up-to-date style. Unlike her previous date, the makeup had gone down to a simple hint of gloss, pressed powder, and dark brown eyeliner.

"So who is he?" Lorelai continued to inquire.

"Uh, his name is James. It's not really a date, he just asked if we could go out some time. Nothing special." She told herself to keep her head low and her mom wouldn't ask her so much questions.

"What about Tristan?"

Opening her eyes in shock, where did Tristan pop in? "What do you mean 'What about Tristan?'?"

"Well, I hear that he came back." Lorelai got a 'how-do-you-know' look and confirmed her information from her mom. "Grandma told me, seeing as it is my information according to her that the Dugreys are so important."

"Oh, well, yeah, he's back." Rory crossed her fingers, praying her mom wouldn't talk about Tristan.

"You're not glad he's back, huh? You have that 'someone-ran-over-my-pig' expression written all over your face. Is he making life for you hell, again? Because if he is--"

"NO! YES! Well, both I suppose. Good and bad. Look, he's not."

"You lie! You lie like a rug!" Lorelai smirked out. "I finally saw a picture of him. Why didn't you tell me he was gorgeous?!" She jumped on the bed, looking up at Rory. "So yeah he's the Devil but I wouldn't mind reproducing the Devil's 90 millionth offspring if they were going to look like him!"

"Mom that's sick!" smacking a throw pillow at her head. "Might I add, a very pedophile act on your part! Gross!"

"Fine, gross blah blah. But he's not harassing you or anything, is he?" calming down now. She pulled Rory onto the bed to sit beside her.

"No, if anything mom, he's being nice to me." she sighed into her neck.

"Really now?"

"Yeah, really. He's only been back for a few days and I feel like we've been closer than ever. Well, I don't know about yesterday but yeah. He gives me the tingles, a rush, a feeling of wonderment, he makes me feel---"

"Special?" cutting the rambling girl off.

"Yeah. I didn't think of that."

"So what's the problem? You're babbling over the Devil and going out with a James dude. What's the problem?"

"That is the problem. I said yes to James. James is Tristan's friend. Yesterday we got into a squabble over it and he didn't take it very well. He said that he didn't care and that it was easy for me to say yes to anyone else but him. I don't know what to do! I'm just so mad at myself. I feel so stupid!"

"DUN DUN DUN!"

"Mom, that didn't help."

"Honey, obviously you don't want to go on this date. Why didn't you say no? Tristan had a point."

"Because stupid me wasn't thinking" She fell backwards onto the bed. "I'm so stupid. I wasn't in my right state of mind. What am I going to do, Mom? I messed everything up."

"Do you like him?"

"No."

"You don't like Tristan?" Lorelai ran it back by her again, this time with a name. Rory shot back up.

"NO! Wait, yes! No! NO!" closing her eyes, she fell backwards once again. "I don't know. I really don't know. Maybe I do, I just can't bring myself to say it. It's just too soon and what if he doesn't even like me? I used to be a game to him. What if I still am? It was his sole purpose at Chilton to harass me!"

Lorelai stared back at her like a mad woman. "What do you mean he doesn't like you?!" falling backwards onto the bed also. "Rory, he has a thing for you! Why do you think he got jealous? He has a thing for you! Of course he has a thing for you! A thing! THING!"

Dean had once said the same exact thing to her once before but never took his word for it seriously. Back then, Tristan had been cocky (actually, part of him still is and she openly admired that he was). She was sure that she was only a game to him. Maybe he did have a thing for her but what she really wanted to know now was if she had a thing for Tristan.

Lorelai knew exactly what was running through her daughter's head. It was clear that Rory was on her way to falling in-like with Tristan very soon. Although the Rory and Tristan were complete opposites, Lorelai knew that the two were compatible, very fitting for one another. Emily had told her about Tristan's family background and saw that all the love she gave to Rory could also be refuted from Rory onto Tristan. It was in a matter of due time.

DING DONG!

Both Gilmores let out an 'ugh' noise and sat up on the bed in sync.

Lorelai turned to Rory and pulled her into an embrace. "Are you sure you still want to go? I can tell him you got swallowed by a dwarf or something." looking down into her daughter's eyes, the two giggled.

"Seriously though, it's already 6:44. He's 44 minutes late." Lorelai poked up at Bacon, still hanging outside in the hallway.

"I'll just go. I can handle it. I'll be fine. If I'm home before 10:30, we can order some pizza and talk about our sex lives!" Rory chimed.

Lorelai absent-mindedly whisked around at the mention of pizza and then 'sex lives'. "Funny missy, I know you don't have a sex life, therefore, you better not be having one anytime soon! But bring on the pizza. Try to have lots of fun now!"

"Ha ha ha. Funny. Can you get the door for me? I still sort have to get ready."

With a simple nod, Lorelai bounced from the bed. Running down the stairs, the doorbell was ringing off the hook. "I'm coming, geeze! Quit your bellyaching!" Once at the door, she pulled it open to see a rather tall specimen with blonde hair. "Tristan?" she let out, trying to remember the picture Emily had shown her.

"James." the specimen spoke aloud, "I'm James. James Cardel? I'm here to take Rory out this evening. You must be Mrs. Gilmore. Pleased to meet you." He extended his hand out to greet the elder, only to be refused.

Lorelai smirked. James did bare a uncanny resemblance to Tristan but was easily displeaed he had referred to her as 'Mrs.'. She just hated when others referred to her as Mrs. Gilmore. She wasn't Emily and nor was she married. "Uh, yeah, nice to meet you, too. It was swell meeting you. Rorrrrrrrrrrrrrrry! Cards and chips is here!" She turned to look at the stairway behind her, while James shrugged his shoulders and pulled back his handshake. Rory ran down and caught a glance of her mother rolling her eyes.

"Hey, you look nice." James said, still standing in the doorway. "I see you don't have a jacket. No problem, I'll keep you warm." He cracked out a wobbly smirk that Rory didn't see but Lorelai sure caught. With that, Lorelai pulled out a jacket from the closet.

"Here", shoving the jacket into Rory's arms and then looking at James, "you can take mine. That" indicating the jacket, "should be warm enough for you." Hah, she thought, don't even try it bucko.

"Well", clearing his throat and tapping his dazzling Fossil watch, "we should be going now." Unaware that Lorelai was annoyed, he said "Have a wonderful evening Mrs. Gilmore. I'll make sure Rory and I will have a good evening."

As Rory and James walked out the door onto the porch steps, Lorelai stood out against the door. "Hmph. Yeah, you do that Mr. Cardio."

He turned. "It's Cardel."

"Yeaaaah....that's nice. Have her home by 10. It is a school night you know. I'm sure your parents would want you home as soon as possible, too." Rory turned and winked back at her mom.

"As you wish Mrs. Gilmore" He knew he was getting under her skin and Rory thought it was best to get him out of there before she swindle him with a machete or some deadly weapon. But the thought didn't sound so bad either. He opened the door to his dark blue Lexus IS-300, for her to step in.

"Lord" Rory told herself in the car before James got in, "help me."
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"Are you sure they're going to be here?" Paris said quietly as they sat in still-desolate movie theatre.

"For the last 10-millionth time, YES!" He curiously searched the rows for a couple with long, coffee-colored hair and a mess of blonde hair. "So be quiet. I paid for you, didn't I?!"

"Ooh, ooh, there!" Paris quipped.

"Where?!"

"There!" Paris smacked Tristan up side the head.

"Paris, what the hell! That hurt!" he whispered loudly as he massaged the back of his head. Those already situated in the theatre yelled out several 'shhhhhhhs' and 'shut up's. "Don't do that!"

"What, this?" she lifted her hand once more when Tristan took hold and held it down.

"No, not that! Don't say that they're here when they're not! I can't believe you did that!"

"Well excuuuuuuuse me! I can't believe you dragged me here. I can't believe you're making me spy on my friend like this! This is so embarassing! Don't you trust her?!"

Unable to sit properly in the squeaky theatre seat, he placed both his hands on the arm rests. "Of course I trust her." staring straight ahead, "I don't trust him."

"Jealous?" Paris asked.

"Please, jealous? Paris, you really do crack me up sometimes you know. Jealous is not the word to use here."

"But you are. You know that she didn't want to go on this date and you got mad because she said yes to a date other than someone but you!" Ouch. She hit a nerve. The other day, Rory and Tristan had gotten into a mindless squabble. When Rory had left, Paris told Tristan everything she knew and thought Rory and Tristan were fools. "Am I right?"

Tristan grumbled an answer but Paris didn't hear. "I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you there Dugrey. What was that you said?"

"YES" he looked straight into her eyes, "yes, I am jealous. But that doesn't matter right now. They're coming here and you know how Cards is with girls. Rory doesn't know what she got herself into."

"You're one to know. You and James are exactly alike."

What she had just said infuriated him. "Don't you ever say that again." His tone was deep and serious. "I was once like that, you don't have to tell me that. I know that. And yeah, you can say I was once like that." He thought of the foolish memories he had shared with Cards, Will, and Kevin. "But I am not, repeat, am not like Cards."

"I'm sorry." she sincerely let out. "I didn't mean to--"

He cut her off and returned back to his concerned nature. "Paris, it's ok. But we're not here because of me. We're here for Rory. I don't want anything bad to happen to her."

Paris nodded at the fact and joined in the search for the missing two. "Tristan, over there." She pointed with her index finger at the theatre entrance. The two focused their attention at James and Rory, whom Tristan noticed James's arm was around Rory's arms. He gritted his teeth, while the two standing teens looked for an open spot.
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"See any good seats?" Rory asked for the fourth time in a row.

"Well, we could sit over there." James pointed at a row, which happened to be two rows in front of Tristan and Paris. "That cool?"

"Yeah, that's cool." Rory let loose a little bit. So far, "the date" was going ok. James hadn't laid out any cruel jokes but he was clearly being a gentleman. He even bought her a drink, a box of candy to her liking, and popcorn. But she wasn't so sure about having his arm around her. It didn't feel right.

Without looking either side, the two slid into a row and situated themselves in chairs in the middle. Putting her purse and mother's jacket down, she crossed her arms while James put his arm against the back of her seat.

"So what do you think?" he asked as he rhythmically tapped the back of her seat.

"Think what?" she replied.

"About the date."

"It's going pretty good so far." She gave herself permission to smile. Smiling wasn't a bad thing, right? "Cheap date I might add."picking up her box of Whoppers. "Want some?" tearing the top lid off.

He put his hand on the hand that was holding the box of Whoppers. His was shockingly cold and it made her shudder slightly. "Maybe later" as he leaned forward to smell the scent of her shampoo.

As the lights dimmed, she didn't have the chance to reply. She wasn't giving him a chance, nor did she want to. The only relatioship she possibly wanted to have with James was a friendship but at the moment, all she could think about was Tristan. Popping a Whopper into her mouth, she leaned back and stared at the previews on the screen.
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"Dammit" he whispered out loudly. The lights had now dimmed and he was scared now that he wouldn't be able to clearly see or hear what the two in front of them were saying.

"Shh! The movie's starting!" Paris whispered back, popping a mouthful of buttered-down popcorn into her mouth.

"What are you doing?!"

"Watching a movie! You asked me to come with you to the movies. I told you what you wanted to know yesterday! Why am I here? The hell if I know! You didn't say I had to spy on anybody. And plus, I haven't seen this movie yet!"

He looked at her in craze. "Well watch it another time! You're supposed to be helping me out here!"

Setting her bucket of popcorn aside, she smacked him upside the head once more.

"Dammit Gellar! I thought you said you would stop that!" He now slouched down.

"I didn't promise anything to that sort. And even if I did, I'd be lying." Cleaning her hands with a toilette, "What you need to do is calm your ass down. You're lucky she didn't even see us."

"What are we watching anyways, since you seem to be more interested in that instead of my dilemma?!" he asked her.

"Ocean's 11." she spat back. When he didn't hear her, she had just had about enough. "That's it. You stare at the two and I'll watch the movie. I will no longer be part of this plan. I said I'd help you out but you're nagging me and making me spy on a friend, when we both perfectly know she won't do anything wrong. You're on your own!" She heard him let out 'impossible' and he resituated himself in his seat once more.

"He bought her food." he simply said. "He could've at least got her more food. She'll be starving. I could buy her more than that." he huffed.

Beyond annoyed, "Yeah, you could and you could make her Shamu. Now shut up!" throwing a handful of popcorn at him.

"Fine!" as Paris lay back into her seat comfortably, he leaned into the chair before him to get a closer look and hear.
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Two rows up front, the two were not engrossed in the movie. She was thinking about Tristan and he was thinking about getting a feel. She could feel James's breath on her neck and it was annoying and unwanted. She tried to shift more to her right but it was quite impossible. Thinking of a way to divert his attention, she turned to whisper in his ear.

"Is there something you wanted?"

"Something along those lines. Why, are you offering?" he turned to lay his cheek on hers and whispered back into her ear.

She pulled back, afraid of what he would say next. Now his arm was holding her in too closely. Gosh Rory, which date was worse. This or Dean? Ugh! When she tried to shift, he only held his hold on her tighter and tighter. And when he tried to kiss her, she would tilt her head to the right.

A tingle. An odd tingle. James placed a light kiss on her neck. Bad.
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"Paris!" Tristan squealed when he saw James dip into Rory's neck. "Paaaaaaaris!"

"WHAT!" she said it too loud. People around them were annoyed and 'shhhed' them once more. "What is it?! You're driving me nuts! Gosh!"

"He kissed her!"

"Where?"

"On the neck! That bastard kissed her neck!"

"Ooh, the neck. I'm sure she'll get herpes now." he couldn't see Paris's expression in the dim lighting but he knew that she rolled her eyes. "Give it a break."

"But she let him kiss her! Well, I guess not, since she was trying to get away from him." acknowledging the fact that she would tilt her head quite often, only to be held down by Cards's hold.

"Well," getting back into the movie, "when she squeals, let me know."

"They're not talking."

"Well Einstein, it doesn't take much to realize we're in a theatre!"
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She was frozen. James just kissed her neck.

"What was that?" she tried her best not to stutter.

"Why? Did you like it? How about I try it again?" He titled his head once more to place a kiss on her neck but was blocked by the palm of her hand.

"Don't." she said as she stared at the screen.

"What did you say?" now lifting his head up.

"I said, 'Don't'." slightly pushing his head away from her with her palm.

"You know you like it." He attempted to dip in again but was once again met with her palm. "What the hell is your problem?" He was annoyed, giving back some of her personal space.

Two could play this game. "You heard what I said. If you didn't understand it in english, I can say it to you in French, Spanish, or German. Or perhaps, in the language you Chilton people only understand." Her tone was stern and it bit into him like a cat's knaw.

"Whatever." He ran a hand through his hair and then put both his hands behind his neck. He told himself to give it another try and he put his arm around Rory once more. This time, he didn't kiss her on the neck. He placed a forceful kiss on her lips, which took Rory and Tristan by surprise. It was too much. Without regret, she placed a cold-hearted slap on his face. She grabbed her purse and jacket, got up, and headed out of the theatre.

James sat there in shock. A girl had just slapped him. A girl. "Bitch" he muttered to himself. He was embarassed a girl slapped him and he was not going to take that. In fury, he got up and ran after her.
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"Oh hell no!" Tristan sputtered after witnessing James put a move on his girl. Hold on, did I just say 'his girl'? Meaning 'my girl'? He saw Rory get up and run out and Cards do the same.

"Get up" already standing up and grabbing Paris's forearm. "Get up! Come on!"

"Wait!" trying to gather all her things. She rolled her eyes and damned herself. *What have I gotten myself into?!* He was pulling on her arm tightly now. "HOLD ON! DAMMIT TRISTAN!"

With that thought, she stood up, with Tristan's grab on her still. The audience around them had had enough and turned around to yell mild obscenities at them, handfuls of popcorn being thrown at them for disturing the peace. Paris pushed forward on Tristan to get out of the theatre. Once out, Tristan let go and Paris ran behind him, shooing off the popcorn off her blouse. Please someone, just shoot me!
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She didn't care how the hell she got home but she had to get out of there and away from the asshole. The cold air was hitting her hard. She didn't have time to put on the jacket.

"Rory!" James called out after her. "Rory! Stop!"

She didn't dare turn around. It was enough she was in Hartford, unsure of where she was. People were passing her by on the outside of the movie theaters and staring. "Get away from me."

He ran up behind her faster a she walked torwards the back parking lot and pulled her around. "When someone calls out your name and tells you to stop, you stop."

Struggling a bit, she got out of his clasp. "I'm going to say it once. Get away from me." She turned on heel and started to walk away when he grabbed a hold of her wrists. "James, let go of me."

"What if I don't?" he looked down into her eyes and saw fear. "Don't you like it when I do this to you?" He squeezed her wrists tighter and saw her wince. The pain only caused her to drop her purse and jacket.

"James, I said LET GO." Her eyes were starting to well-up again. This time, the pain was too much. Her wrists were turning red and purple and as he squeezed tighter, she started to fall to her knees.

"Will you just shut up already!" He let go of her wrists, which caused her to fall back onto the pavement. She grasped her wrists to her chest. Still grasping her wrists, she was scared what he was capable of, what he was going to do next.

"Get up" he said calmly looking down at her. No reply or movement. "I said get up." When she didn't move, he picked her up by the waist and was now dragging her to his carm. She was putting up a fight but his hold was too strong.
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"Where are they?!" Tristan was panicked now. "Paris, where are they?!" He had a feeling something bad was going on and he had no clue where she had disappeared off to with him. "PARIS! WHERE ARE THEY!" he lunged forward.

Placing a hand on each side of Tristan's shoulders, she slightly shook him. "Tristan...TRISTAN! Stop! You're scaring me! Get a hold of yourself!"

He shrugged her hands off him. "I can't! I don't know where they went! She's in trouble Paris. She's in trouble, I know it!" searching the streets in front of him.

"Hold on! Listen!" Paris shushed Tristan so both of them could hear scuffling. "The parking lot! The parking lot!" The two immediately ran torwards the back parking lot.
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"Let...me...go! Stop!" no one else was in the parking lot to hear her pleas. She was putting up a fight as James was trying to shove her down into the passenger seat. She thought the pain her wrists went through were unbearable but when some squeezes the living daylights out of your shoulder caps, you've just had about enough.

James had found it difficult to control her. She wasn't quitting. So he tried next what would work on her. He slapped her. It got her to stop stuggling a moment because of the initial shock but it didn't stop her. "I said STOP IT!"

"No way!"

"She said stop it. What the hell about that don't you understand?" Someone else had entered the picture. James stopped and turned to see Tristan and Paris following behind.

"And what the hell do you think that you're doing Dugrey?" walking away from the car and torwards Tristan. "Surprised to see you here on this fine evening. And I see that you brought Gellar with you. Never knew you were interested?" winking at Paris, only to be glared back. "Checking out the nerds, Isee? It's not like you at all."

"Cut the crap." Dugrey pursed forward. "Let her go."

James cut out the sarcasm. "She came here with me and she's going to leave here without me. Don't even think about it. We were having a good time until you showed up."

Just then, Rory got out of the passenger seat and ran torwards Tristan and Paris. She was more than glad to see them. "TRISTAN! PARIS!" She called out their names to make sure that they were real. Instinctively, she attempted to run torwards them, tears streaming her face, only to be blocked by James once again. He turned her around and held her closely around her waist to him.

"Dugrey, it just kills you that you can't have her." laughing into the cold night. "You're mad that this is the only girl you could never have."

"Shut up! Let her go Cards. Don't make it bigger than it is." With that, he let go of her and pushed her torwards Tristan and Paris, stumbling onto her knees. Tristan bent down to look at her, to see if she were alright. Like a feather, he lifted her to her knees and reassuringly guided her to Paris. He wasn't done with Cards, who was now walking to his car.

"CARDS! You're not getting off easy." now charging torwards him.

"Dugrey, just shut the hell up and go back to your bitches. I don't want her no more. I don't see why you waste your time on a bitch who doesn't love you."

"Take it back." Tristan said in mid-step. "Take it back. She's not a bitch."

"But she is. I mean, she gave you a feel, all I wanted was some. Whatever happened to the 3d-score, huh? Date'em, Dick'em, and Dump'em?"

Tristan had now caughten up with James and turned him around. "She's not like that. Take it back Cards, take it back."

James now perfect in height, looked eye-to-eye with Tristan. "Bitch."

He had had enough and decided to take matters into his own hands. James started to walk away once more but Tristan turned him around and hit him hard, square in the face. He hadn't had a chance to retaliate because Tristan got on top of him and continually socked him in the face.

When the two girls hadn't realized Tristan and James moved further away from them, they called out his name. They ran torwards the noise and saw Tristan on top of James, welting James face to a black and blue pigment.

"Come on Cardel, say it! Fucking say it!" grabbing hold of James's collar and bringing it up to him, threatening to hit him again. "SAY IT!"

Just then, Rory and Paris pulled forward, trying to hold back Tristan. "Dammit Cardel, SAY IT!" now screaming into his face. The girls were close enough to hear what he had to say.

"Dugrey," pausing a moment to jerk out a unpleasant cough, "you'll never change. We're exactly the same. It's a shame you pussied out on everyone, just over some girl. She'll never love you. Even if you paid her. Never Dugrey, NEVER. So come on, hit me." He smiled and welcomed another jab in the face after blurting out the sour rebuttal. And when he didn't hit him, Tristan just took him by the collar and threw him against the hood of the Lexus. He gave him a look of utter disgust. "You make me sick. Get out of here before I, I--"

"What Dugrey? What are you going to do about it?" James got off the hood and met up again with Tristan. "What, huh?" The boy just didn't know when to quit while he was ahead.

He was sure he would love to hit him again but didn't when Rory stood behind him and put her hand on his forearm. He looked down at her and realized it was enough. Her eyes cried for him justo stop. Instead, he backed up with her and turned away. She cuffed her arm into his and leaned her head on his shoulder, trying to calm him down. While she tried to sooth him, he damned himself for listening to what Cards had to say.

She'll never love you...NEVER. The words stuck a pierce into his heart and soul. What if it were true? He told himself that he was a changed person and after hearing that, he wasn't so sure now.

"Hey." soft-spokenly she said. He ignored the feelings for the time being and gave his all his attention to Rory.

"What a scene! Dawson's Creek, move over!" Paris exclaimed in the background, holding two purses and two jackets. "Let's get out of here!" Without waiting, Paris threw Rory's jacket to him and ran to Tristan's BMW, while Rory and Tristan took their time. Letting go of her arm, he got in front of her and placed her jacket around her, rubbing the sides of her arms for warmth. Tristan didn't have to ask but decided to head over to Rory's place. It's where she needed to be.

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"How can you three eat this?!" staring down at the almost empty containers of Philadephia cream cheese. Tristan stared at Rory, Paris, and Lorelai gingerly spreading cream cheese onto nacho-cheese Doritos. The three girls looked up at him in disgust. "What?! You guys, it's gross!" The three shot back daggers at him. "You want me to eat cream cheese and Doritos...together!"

"You can't call anything gross until you've tried it. It won't kill you!" Rory munched into her chip. "Well, unless you don't want this, you can attempt your daily dose of diabetes with this" picking up a box of Krispy Kreme donuts the putting it down, "this" picking up the bucket of KFC, "for cholesterol purposes" and then picking up a bag of salad with a frown, "or this, because you suck." The three girls urged that he pick the cream cheese and Doritos duo but still refused. "Ok, well, you suck. What does everyone want to drink?" Lorelai said, still munching on her Doritos and getting up from the couch. Paris begged for lemonade, while there was no true need to ask what Rory wanted, and Tristan said whatever.

"Well 'whatever' boy, come and help me out. There's more food to be distributed! Hi ho cherry-o!" raising a finger to the sky. Tristan got up and followed into the kitchen. He stood against the wall silently with his hands in his pockets.

Lorelai threw open the cupboards and pulled out oodles of boxes and bags. "What's wrong Devil?"

"Excuse me maam, did you say Devil?" arching an eyebrow at her.

"AH! What is wrong with the Chilton boys. Please call me Lorelai. Your nemesis earlier made the mistake of calling me Mrs. Gilmore, twice, earlier this evening." she popped open another bag of chips and went to the fridge to take out several sugary beverages. "Calm down, I'm not going to bite your head off." She shut the fridge door closed and placed the drinks on the tiny dining table.

"Devil. I like it" smirking, he took a seat at the table.

"So, how is it that knew that poker boy was going out with Rory tonight, hmm? It's not like she told you." taking a seat across from him. She poured herself a cup of coffee and gestured an offer to Tristan, who refused.

"Actually she did." cupping his hands together.

"I have taught her nothing." swallowing a gulp of the coffee and then placing the cup down. He stared at the door to his right, which was slightly cracked open. He knew for sure that it was Rory's room. It was only natural that her room be the closest to the coffee machine. Now only if he could take a look of it.

"Thank you."

"Excuse me?" snapping out of his daydream, "I don't understand."

"For protecting her. For following her. Well, I'm not quite sure how to take it when some handsome boy follows my daughter around quite yet but thank you. And if Rory trusts you, so do I." She placed her hand over his, a sign of love. Lorelai saw that he frowned a bit at the gesture, realizing he, too, grew up in a household where love wasn't frequently shown. But she was confident that Rory would lead her way into Tristan's heart and vice-versa.

"I would never let anyone or anything hurt her." He replied

"I know."

"She's a special girl."

"I know."

"How?"

"One, she is my daughter and secondly, it's the way you talk to her, the way you two look at each other, the way you make her feel. I just know you have 'The Thing' for her." She added to her last comment. "And I know that she never made it to class on Monday because of you." He perked up to see her smiling.

"There could've been other reasons she didn't show up Lorelai." trying to play along.

"Please, I saw the daisy. And she came home early. Too early, considering she doesn't watch after school specials. I figured out the rest over lunch with her grandmother earlier today. She showed me a picture of the Dugrey's delinquent son and said that he came back to Chilton on Monday. I remember her coming home with this goofy-lovestruck look on her face and I couldn't make it go away. And I hope you're not also the one to make that goofy-lovestruck face go away. Capeesh?"

"Capeesh. But you knew about all of that? Does she know that you know?" ducking in closer to her.

"No, don't worry about it."

"Uh, sorry?"

"It's fine, I just hope she doesn't always lose her way because of you. Although I understand now why." as she checked out the handsome young man, pinching his golden cheeks.

"Ok, I won't go too sappy on you now Daisy Boy. Thank you so much." she said once more, placing her warm hand on the back of his neck. "I didn't know what you wanted to drink but help yourself to anything here, ok?" She then got up with cup of coffee and bowl of chips and headed back to the living room. He sat there momentarily, thinking about what Lorelai said.

She trusts you, Dugrey, he told himself silently, smiling because knew that not one but two Gilmores trusted him. The thought made him feel important and caring. He got back up and proceeded torwards Rory's bedroom door, in desperate need satisfy is curiosity. He had made it over, placing his hand over the knob, when someone tapped his shoulder. His face let out a furious, embarassed blush and slowly turned around.

"What are you doing?" Rory looked up curiously, still munching on her Doritos. Paris and Lorelai were yelling in the background that she had stolen the bag of Doritos. "Hmm?" She inquired more.

"Umm, I was looking for the bathroom." Nervously, he backed away from the door.

"Oh, that's my room silly. See?" She pushed the door open and switched on the light, better for Tristan to see. Walking in, she bowed down to pick up some books up and threw them on her computer desk. "Come in. Sorry it's messy." He walked in and marveled the simplicity of the room. The walls were a soft yellow. Not many posters or papers hung on them, which took him by surprise. Instead, he saw two long ledges of books placed on them. Figures. Then he saw a fluff of comfort, otherwise known as her bed. Her comforter was a crisp, clean white. He had often dreamt of watching her sleeping on her bed. Oh, a boy could dream. He didn't realize that he was standing in the middle of room with her. "Nice" he told her. Looking up, she smiled and simply replied, "thanks". To break the mood, he darted out of her room and back to the dining table and picked up a drink.

Following him, she too picked up a drink. "You're looking for a bathroom and come back to the table for a drink? Weird." Setting down the bag of chips, she massaged her wrists. "You could've hurt yourself tonight. What were you thinking?!"

Setting the drink down, he shot her a look-who's-talking-glance. Taking the drink out of her hand and placing it on the table, he took her wrists into his hands and examined them.

"I'll be fine. It's not that bad." She was embarassed and still shocked over the evening's events.

"He hurt you Rory. That is bad." He softly caressed her wrists with his thumb, which was evidently soothing to her. "Why'd you go out with him, even after you said that you didn't want to?"

Releasing her wrists from him, she turned her back on him and massaged the spot where he massaged it. "I thought I could handle it. It was no biggie. I mean, I'm home, right? Well, you got me home. So see, I'm fine." Her smile was too wobbly to be believeable.

"Rory, he could've done more to you. Dean tried it and Cards tried it--"

"I'm stupid, huh? I thought I would've been smarter than that. I guess I'm dumber than I thought." She turned back to him.

He pulled her into is embrace and placed a soft kiss on the top of her head. Her hair was soft as he had always imagined, silk inbetween his fingers. "That's not what I meant Rory. What I meant was that, you need to stick with guys who treat you right. You don't deserve anything that happened to you tonight. Believe me when I say that." Holding her so close was still a shock to him but he enjoyed how it felt. Once more, he hugged her tightly and let her go. "So I'm the lucky knight in shining armor you trust, huh?" wiggling his eyebrows.

"Something along those lines. But Tristan?"

"Yeah?"

"I am sorry. I'm sorry I went out with him and dragged you into all of it. I'm still not quite how you dragged Paris into it but I really am sorry. James is your, well, was your friend. I just made matters worse. I'm not helping, seeing that this was only your 3rd day back in school. Forgive me?"

Closing in, he whispered into her ear. "Can you forgive me for snapping at you yesterday?" She had remembered the way he spoke to her but she smiled and nodded. She had deserved it. "Yes, I can."

"Well, if you can, so can I."

"Chips! Donde esta chips?!" Paris and Lorelai spat out for the last time, causing Rory to step out of Tristan's proximity. "Come on Gilmore", Paris said aloud through bites, "I'm dying here! Heffer! Heffffffer!"

"Shush! I'm coming!" straightening her clothes, she smiled and looked up at him. He looked a tad disappointed, realizing another private moment between the two was ruined. Grabbing the bag of chips to her and sliding three beverages over to her, she pulled out a plastic knife from a drawer. Dipping the utensil into the cream cheese container, she scooped a serving out and spread it on a chip. "So...you really, really, really, don't want to try it, huh?" bringing it up for him to see.

"Do you want me to?" He leaned his head backwards a bit, as if it were a plague. It sounded more like, "Do I have to?"

"You're missing out. Come on, it won't kill you, I promise. If it hurts you, I'll do your makeup homework for a week." she jumped, sure that it would convince him.

"Liar."

Rolling her eyes, she rebuttaled. "I know but you really are missing out. Pwease? It's really not that bad." letting out a pout. How could he refuse. Straightening up, he gallantly took the chip from her hand and braved himself. Throwing the whole chip into his mouth, Rory saw his face crunch down and shift expressions. It took him awhile to swallow.

"So?" awaiting his response.

"Rory Gilmore..."

"Yes?"

"That is the nastiest piece of crap I have ever tasted in my life!"

"Ugh, you LIE! You know you like it!" playfully smacking him upside the head, she picked up the drinks and chips and walked back into the living room, where two girls applauded the return of the chips. He could hear her mumbling 'Tristan didn't like it' and "boo, Tristan you suck".

Licking off the nacho-cheese residue off his thumb, he muttered, "No. But I like you." That said, he walked back into the living room with a smile only to have three glaring girls throw plastic utensils at him.
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END CHAPTER 9