Disclaimer: Well taking over the show is on my list of things to do this summer…but unfortunately there are a lot of other chores in front of that. But I'll let you know when I'm able to check that one off J

A/N: ::BIG SMILE:: Aw you guys are wonderful, thank you for the life sustaining reviews, almost as good as coffee. I got this out as soon as I could considering the 2 weeks of hell I've been through. Why do Professors pile everything on at the end of semester? Are they trying to make us nuts? They probably get together and mock us poor freshmen running around like a chicken with their head cut off trying to get all of this work done. UGH! Anyway I'm finishing finals now and then I'm going home. Where I will be moving into a new apartment and be without a computer for at least a week so no updates till then. But for now you have this, say bye-bye to Dean! So please review and tell me what you think I had a lot of trouble coming up with the right way to do this. So tell me what you think!!

Dedication: To my best friend Heather (who will probably never see this), thank you for getting me through this past week. Bringing me coffee and keeping me semi-sane. I've learned my lesson with procrastination, I swear! You're the best! 

Chapter Twelve

                        "You still haven't told him?" Lane exclaimed as they sat in Rory's bedroom sorting out CDs.

            Rory bowed her head in shame, "I know! I'm awful. I know I have to tell Dean about Tristan but whenever I try to rehearse how I'm going to explain it I keep seeing Dean's head exploding in anger."

            "Well I wish you would tell Dean soon, so I can meet the Devil Boy, cause Lorelai says he's hot." Lane grumbled as she discarded another CD.

            "What?"

            "Lorelai said he was hot. The word gorgeous was used also I believe."

            "You've been discussing this with my Mother? What have you two been saying?" Rory exclaimed.

            "Well it's not like I can discuss boys with my mother. And—"

            The phone rang saving Lane from further explanation. Rory fished the phone out from beneath a pile of clothes.

            "Hello." She answered.

            "Oh hi Dean." She said shooting a look of 'what should I do?' to Lane. Lane just shrugged and gathered the CDs she had chosen to borrow.

            "Gotta go, meeting with my bible study group." Lance grimaced, "Tell him, it's driving you crazy. It's driving all of us crazy."

            Rory glared at her friend.

            "Sorry it's true, and who I am to lie to my best friend. Bye Ror. Good luck." She said as she exited the room.

            "Rory are you there?" Dean asked.

            "Yeah, sorry Lane was just leaving." She said twisting the phone cord around her pinky.

            "I miss you. We really haven't had much time to hang out since you've gotten back."

            "I know, I'm sorry. I miss you too." And that was true, she thought. She did miss Dean. But not in the way she should have.

            "So what do you say I pick up some Chinese and movies and we can just chill at your house tonight?" he asked hopefully.

            "Sure," Rory said relenting. "Sounds like a plan."

            "Great, see you at 7." Dean said and she could just hear the smile in his words, "Love you"

            Rory cleared her throat trying to dispel the lump that had formed there, "You too." What was she going to do?

            By 6:45 Rory was a nervous wreck. She knew she needed to tell him. Cause it wasn't fair to either boy. But how to tell him? 'By the way Dean, I've become friends with Tristan, remember they guy you hate? Oh and I'm really attracted to him too.' Ah, she screamed in her head, where did that last thought come from? I'm not attracted to Tris. Okay well maybe I just recognize that he is attractive, but so what? I also think that Hayden Christensen is hot but that doesn't mean I'm being unfaithful to Dean. So it's the same thing with Tristan. Right?

Wrong.

Damn, Rory thought, what am I going to do? Oh great there's the doorbell. Let the games begin.

            She opened the door and there stood Dean, grinning from ear to ear.

            "Hey." He said as he kissed her briefly on the lips and handed her the movie.

            "Hey there." She replied as she followed him into the kitchen where he was setting out the Chinese food.

            "I got all your favorites." Dean said as he got two sodas out of the fridge.

            "And for the movie?" Rory asked smiling.

            "I compromised. I got Traffic, enough action for me and critical acclaim for you." He said and they settled into their usual flow of conversation.

            Everything was going fine. Almost just like old times. It was that almost part that was bugging Dean. Every once in a while there was a pause in the conversation and she looked that she wanted to say something to him, but refrained. And every time he went to touch her she shied away, like she did when they were first dating. Something was off. And all during the movie all he could think of was what could it possibly be. Did he do something? What wasn't she telling him? It was eating away at him.

            So when he saw her cell phone lying in front of him on the coffee table he picked it up, Rory had left the room to get more popcorn and soda.  It showed 2 missed calls, and it was on silent. She must have forgot to take that off after she got back from the library he thought. He knew he shouldn't but he checked to see who the missed calls were. Caller ID showed up Tristan and then Tristan's Cell.

            What the hell, Dean thought. Tristan? Tristan fucking Dugrey? Why would he be calling her? So he looked to make sure Rory wasn't calling and checked her last dialed calls. They were Tristan. He was in her phonebook too, 3 different numbers for him. This is why things have been awkward; she had been hiding this from him.

            "The popcorn's a little burnt but—" Rory stopped abruptly when she saw Dean glaring at her and then she saw him holding her cell phone. "What are you doing with that?"

            "Why do you care? Unless there's something you're hiding. Are you hiding something Rory? Someone?" he yelled as he saw her pale.

            "I don't know—"she stammered, this was not how she wanted him to find out.

            "Don't know what? Well maybe you should ask Tristan; cause it looks like that's who you've been talking to. Why you've been distracted. God, how could I have been so stupid. I can't believe you would do this to me!"

            "I haven't done anything!" yelled back Rory, recovering from the shock. "You're the one who's invading my privacy!"

            Dean face flushed even more at that accusation, "You lied to me! Oh all the people, you pick him. That self-absorbed, rich prick!"

            "We're just friends. Nothing else. I didn't tell you yet cause I knew you'd over react."

            "He doesn't want to be your friend, Rory. Are you that dumb? He just wants to fuck you." He screamed, and then realizing what he said bowed his head. "Rory I'm sorry, I—"

            "Get out." She said seething. "Get out of my sight now. You don't get to speak to me like that. No one does." She bit her lip to keep from crying as she watched him walk out the door and possibly out of her life.

            She curled up into a ball on the sofa, buried her face in the cushions and didn't move. She let the hurt and the anger wash over her, she didn't cry. She waited.

            Lorelai opened the door, tired after a long day of work. "Rory?" she called out to the dark house. She went to check the answering machine when she saw Rory curled up on the couch in the fetal position.

            "Babe, what happened?" she said as she knelt beside her.

            "We fought, this horrible screaming match. And we both said these awful things we didn't mean." She said still not facing her mother.

            "Aw hun."

            "He found out about Tristan and just flipped. I didn't have a chance to explain. He was so mad…and hurt. So hurt."

            Lorelai just continued to smooth back her daughter's hair in a soothing manner.

            "I never meant to hurt him." She whispered and her voice broke as she then started to cry.

            "Babe, I want you to think about the answer to this question. Really think about it." Lorelai paused. "Are you in love with Dean? Not do you love him or care about him. Are you in love with him?"

            There was a long moment of silence before Rory turned to her mother, meeting her eyes, "No. I'm not in love with him. But I never meant to hurt him like this, or have him hurt me like this. It wasn't suppose to end like this." She whispered as she cried into her mothers embrace.

There you go, Dean is gone for now. Yes, he will be back to tie up the loose ends but in the meanwhile who will cheer up Rory. ::evil grin:: yeah we all know who it is, but how, hehe. That's the ingenious part.

So click that little button that is currently dancing to "Shake, shake, shake. Shake, shake, shake. Shake your booty!" Bet you didn't know that buttons had bootys, huh? Learn something new everyday…REVIEW ;)