Their lips met. Tongues wrestled for a few seconds before Rory pulled away.

"What's wrong?"

"Tristan, I- "Rory struggled to sober herself up. "I can't do this."

Tristan pulled away, hurt. "Why not?"

Rory sighed. "It's a lot of things. That thing with Dean, and I'm not looking for a serious relationship, and," Rory swallowed "I don't like you that way" she said. It was a lie, one of the biggest lies she had ever told. She just didn't know if she could get into a relationship right then. "Look, can we just pretend it never happened?" she asked.

"Sure, I guess" said Tristan. "Kiss? What kiss?"

"Thanks" Rory smiled in relief. "Well, I'm gonna go to bed. Night."

"Night," said Tristan, going into his room and shutting the door.

********************************************************************

Rory woke up around ten the next day. She was tired and she had a bit of a headache. She went for a swim and washed her hair, which helped clear her head a little bit.

While she was getting dressed, Mona bounced up the stairs and knocked on the bedroom door.

"Rory? You decent?"

"Come on in!" called Rory.

"Look what we got!" She held up the Phantom of the Opera tickets. "It was supposed to be a surprise for tonight, but I realized no one brought anything to wear. So, we're going shopping! I saw the cutest dress store in town."

"Wait a minute" Rory grabbed the tickets. "8:00" she murmured to herself "third row? How did you guys get these?"

Mona shrugged. "I guess we got lucky," she commented. "So what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

***************************************************************************

The guys went to buy nice pants, shirts, and shoes at Miliken's, the main department store in town. The girls flipped through the dresses, but no one saw anything they liked except Danni. She ended up with a pair of nice black pants and a short sleeved blue blouse. The girls then left the guys to do their own thing, and headed to Windsor, the store that Mona had been talking about.

All of the girls found something there that they liked, and that was in their price range. Lucy wound up with a turquoise silk dress, and matching strappy sandals. She also found a magenta scarf, and decided to wear her toe and fingernails magenta, also. Mona was wearing a red dress and black shoes. Amanda wound up with a black skirt and red shirt, and she was going to borrow Lucy's knee-high black boots. Sarah wore a two-piece black halter dress. Washu selected a long purple skirt, which she decided to pair with a black top that belonged to Mona, and black shoes that belonged to Amanda. They met the guys in the parking lot, and drove back to the cabin.

They all showered and began to dress. The girls, of course, took a lot longer than the guys did. When the girls finally stepped out of their room around 5:30, the guys were sitting on the couch, watching TV and grumbling about how long it took for girls to get ready. Matt was wearing khakis and a nice green shirt that brought out the green flecks in his eyes. Tristan was in black dress pants and a white shirt. They looked at the girls, and their jaws dropped to the floor. They both decided it was worth the wait. Tristan couldn't take his eyes off of Rory, in particular. He swallowed. She wore a long royal blue dress with spaghetti straps. It brought out her eyes and showed off her tanned, toned arms to perfection. The nail polish on her fingers and toes matched the dress perfectly. She wore blue eye shadow, a little bit of blush, and just the slightest hint of red lipstick. Her shiny brown hair hung loose down her back. She was gorgeous.

"Shall we go, milady?" he asked, finding his voice.

"Of course, good sir" she replied. Just then, a horn honked. Tristan looked at his watch.

"Ah. 5:45. Right on time." The group headed outside, and discovered an enormous white limo. Tristan had gotten it as a surprise for all of them. Everyone grinned and headed toward it.

They pulled up in front of The Park Place Hotel, and Tristan left instructions for the driver to pick them up at 7:30. They ate at the restaurant on the top floor of the hotel.

In the elevator on the way back down, everyone thanked Tristan for this wonderful surprise. Mona caught the look on Tristan's face, however, as he looked at Rory. She knew who this surprise had REALLY been for.

***************************************************************************

As she got into bed that night, Rory sighed. It had been one of the best nights of her life. The musical had been great. It was the first musical that she had ever been to, despite the fact that she lived so close to New York. The limo ride had been wonderful, as had the food at the restaurant. She sighed happily before settling down to sleep. For some reason, she found herself dreaming of Tristan Dugray that night.

**************************************************************************** *

The next day was warm, but not as warm as the previous few days had been. The gang went to the carnival that was a standard part of the Cherry Festival. They went on all the rides and played all the games. Tristan won Rory a gigantic stuffed teddy bear, and she thanked him. The bear was blue, her favorite color, and it had a purple scarf tied around its neck.

For dinner, the gang headed to The Upper Crust, a pizza restaurant on the edge of town. They ate on picnic tables, overlooking the river that ran through the town. Then, they went to Jack's Market across the street. They still had movies to watch, and planned to have another Gilmore Movie Night- minus the alcohol.

**************************************************************************** **

The days were flying by. Rob and Kati had already left, because Kati had to get back to work. Thursday, they had gone to the zoo, and then watched the Children's parade come down Main Street. They had ridden the zoo train and checked out all of the animals, they had all entered the Cherry Pie eating contest, and they had watched the air show and had gone Mode's Bum Steer, a restaurant and bar, for dinner. The day had turned overcast, and the next morning they all woke up to rain.

Now it was Friday, and they were at Grand Traverse Mall. They all went shopping, and saw 'Scooby Doo'. When that was over, the girls saw 'Devine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood', and the guys saw 'The Sum of All Fears'. At the end of the day, they all returned to the cabin, laden down with bags.

Saturday, it cleared up, and the temperature rose to 85. The group went to the Cherry Royale Parade, which always took place on the last day of the festival. They went back to the cabin and hung out, then they went to dinner at Sledder's, and sat by the bay to watch the fireworks that took place every year on the last day of the Cherry Fest. They went rollerblading while they waited for the fireworks to start. As they lit up the air, the gang reflected on what a wonderful time they'd had in Traverse City.

They next day, Lucy exchanged addresses with everyone, and promised to keep in touch. She jumped in her Mustang, with Sunny safely in the backseat, and made the long drive back to Bloomfield Hills.

The rest of the gang, meanwhile, drove back to Mackinac Island. Tristan sighed as he unlocked the door of the summer house. They had had a great time in Traverse, he reflected. But, he was glad to be back on the island. Rory was over at Mona's house, hanging out with her for a little while. Tristan walked into the living room.

"Hello." Tristan started at the voice.

"Summer?" he asked in disbelief.

"What are you doing here?"

**************************************************************************** **************

Hahahah! Two cliffhangers in a row!!! (Fends off blows) OK, OK, I'll keep going! Sheesh!

**************************************************************************** **************

"I came to see you, of course" she replied, twisting an arm around his neck and kissing his cheek lightly. "I've missed you. We never should have broken up."

"Listen, Summer, I-"Tristan broke off, still hurt and confused by Rory's earlier rejection. Memories of the kiss had been haunting him ever since she said those words.

"I would love to give 'us' another chance. C'mon, I'll show you to a room."

"Don't bother," Summer got up. "I'm staying with a friend." She kissed his cheek lightly. "See you later" she purred, and left the house. Tristan slumped down on the couch, head in his hands.

"What have I done?"

**************************************************************************** ***

OK, this time I'm stopping for real. I'll have the next chapter up ASAP, I promise!