Could You Show Me, Dear? Something I've Not Seen.
Chapter 4



Stepping inside her jeep, Rory forced herself to believe Tristan was the one being the jerk. For the past three and a half hours, she'd been doing that. She knew she was being the bitch, but why should she trust him? A sincere look in his eyes or a kind act wasn't any reason to just forget everything he had done to her before now. For all she knew, he was planning something against her. Another reason for Paris to hate her, another reason to make the boys slap him on the back and congratulate him. Well, it wasn't going to work. Not at all.

But she still had been a bitch.

But maybe that's what he deserved.

Turning on the car, she debated whether or not she should follow him today. Her mind told her no, but it did that every day, and she had grown tired of listening to what her head constantly told her. If she didn't go, she would only have homework to look forward to, but it was Friday, and her homework could be done tomorrow. But then there was also the Christmas party going on in Stars Hollow that her mother had talked her into going to. She didn't want to go, of course, knowing Dean would be there. She talked with Lane about Dean ever once in a while. Asked her, shyly, how he was doing and what he was up to. He had gone out with a few girls, a few dates but Lane assured her it was only that, and no girlfriends as of yet.

Relationships were hell. Too much work, too much pain. She guessed it was in her genes, seeing as her mother had problems with them too. Maybe she could grow up to be like her mother. Single, independent. She handled it well, seemed to enjoy it. She'd have her days at Harvard, and then her career. So no, she really didn't need a boyfriend.

At least not now.

Pursing her lips together, she decided to follow him anyway. Every Friday for Tristan was different, and she wondered what he had planned for the night. No doubt another date with another girl who could count her IQ on her figures. That is, if she could count that high. She smiled softly, feeling just the slightest bit free.


Tunes. She needed some tunes. Nothing could bring out feelings and emotions like music, no matter what kinds you were having. Retrieving her collection of CD's out from under the passenger seat, she began shuffling through them.

Britney Spears? Eh...No.

Nickelback? ...Not right now.

Backstreet Boys?

Wrinkling her nose up, she wondered how the hell that got into her car and tossed it out the window, narrowly missing some guys head.

Incubus?

Smiling, she slid the CD out of it's home and slipped it in the CD player. She wandered through the songs for a moment, before settling on what that seemed fitting

Pulling out of the Chilton student parking lot, she pulled the car onto the street that Tristan drove home on, and pulled over into one of the side streets. It was full of trees, and even though bare from winter, they still were very thick and easy to hide behind.

"I don't wanna talk to you anymore, I'm afraid of what I might say..." She sang softly, waiting to see his car fly by in front of her. She drummed her slender fingers on the steering wheel, finding herself being pulled into the hard sound coming from her speakers. She wished she could sing, it sure would make the whole waiting period a little more fun. But she couldn't, but decided it didn't matter and sang along anyway, picking up a slight bit of head banging also.

"I bite my tongue everytime you come around, I'm afraid of what I might say..."

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Waving and smiling at all the people surrounding his car, Tristan mentally wished they would all just go away. School was over, hadn't they had enough of acting like asses in front of him yet? He forced himself to smile at the girl in front of him as she asked him what he was doing tonight.

"What am I doing tonight? Hmm, well... how about you?" He grinned, pushing away the sickening feeling in his stomach. He watched as the girl didn't even blush, but cast her eyes down his body, biting her full lower lip, approving of what she saw. Shoving his hands in his pockets, he leaned against his car door.

"Actually, I've got plans. Family thing, you know." He said as sweetly as possible, watching her face fall. Keeping himself from rolling his eyes, he stuck out his bottom lip in a mock pout and waiting for her to smile.

And she did. "Well, alright. But don't forget about me next week, you owe me." She winked and turned around, making sure he'd watch her as she went. Sucking his lip back in, her pushed off his car and opened the door.

"What was her name again?" He asked to a guy standing next to him. He just laughed and shrugged before returning his attention back on his own ditz in front of him.

"Later guys. See ya next week. Hey, and good luck on the game, Potter!" He said, stepping inside his car, shutting it before anyone else could start talking to him. All he wanted to do, was go home. No one would be there today, except for maybe a maid or two, scattered around doing whatever. That left him to himself tonight, no plans, no dates. Of course, when he said he family plans earlier, he wasn't lying. He fully intended to listen to any phone messages from his parents, maybe even go over to his aunt and uncles tonight, see what Juliet was doing.

Starting his car, he listened to the CD player load it's self up, starting where it had left off when he turned it off this morning. Screeching out of the parking lot, he made his way down the road to him home, bobbing his head to the lyrics.

There's something about the look in your eyes
Something I noticed when the light was just right
It reminded me twice that I was alive
And it reminded me that you're so worth the fight

He strummed his strong fingers on the steering wheel, listening intently to the song. Wishing it hadn't, his mind drifted towards Rory, and this afternoon. He had felt more at peace and more free when he was just sitting there with her. He didn't have to be entertaining her, he didn't have to be flirting with her or making sly remarks to flatter a her. He just had to sit there, relaxed and daydreaming. He thought it had been perfect, completely fresh and new for him. Something he hadn't felt in so long he'd forgotten things like that existed. He'd forgotten about the school around him, and all the fake people inside. He'd forgotten about his parents, about his pressures, about his fears and his wishes.

He'd forgotten how to feel all the pain that was going on in his life and it was all because she was willing to sit there with him, willing to let him just sit there with her. Willing to just allow him to be himself.

Or at least he had thought so. For those few moments he had been granted, she had allowed him to be whatever. Then she changed. Everything from the way she held her body to the way she spoke to him, she had changed, and he felt his world turn cold again, he felt his fears and pressures flood back into his head, and he felt the door being slammed, being locked. He searched for a time when he had felt so cold and hurt inside, so angry with someone and it scared him that he compared her to that. To them.

Ooh, yeah...My biggest fear will be the rescue of me
Strange how it turns out that way...

He allowed his foot to lay heavier on the gas, and he watched as his speed reached well over the speed limit. How could she? Her. Everything he thought she was, everything he praised her silently for being, was trash now. He had never expected her to do such a thing to him. Anyone else, and he would have been waiting for it, and that's why he never allowed himself to be in that sort of situation with them, but he allowed himself this time and look where it got him. Crushed.

Could you show me, Dear?
Something I've not seen
Something infinitely interesting

Slamming on his breaks to make a stop sign, he forced his temper to cool down. She was just like everyone else, and that shouldn't surprise him.

It shouldn't have hurt him as much as it did, either.


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 She had seen his car speed by, like normally and pulled back out onto the street, following behind him at a reasonable distance. There was a car between him and her, and it calmed her nerves a little that he wasn't going to be able to recognize her car.

The songs on the CD had changed numerous times, but she had ignored most of the lyrics, too focused on her thoughts. She had tried to just listen to the music and forget the day, but it was impossible.

"Stupid, Rory."

His fault, Rory. Don't blame yourself. He would have hurt you, you just put a stop to it.

"Who said he would do something that would cause him to hurt me?" She spoke to herself, her forehead scrunched up in confusion.

Who says he wouldn't?

She sighed and rubbed her forehead. Talking to herself again. She needed a nap, or something.

Turning up the music to drown out the sounds of her persistent mind, she focused on the now soft beats coming through her speakers. She had always liked this song. It had a nice beat to it, calming almost. She smiled.

There's something about the way you move
I see your mouth in slow motion when you sing
More subtle than something someone contrives


"Your movements echo that I have seen the real thing..." She sang softly, her mind wondering slightly, her face fallen. Tristan had tried to be nice, and truth be told, when she had compared to how she felt wrapped up in Deans arms, and how it felt to be in Tristan's, she had found that she liked both. They were both different, and pulled different feelings out of her.

Dean was safe. He was normal, he was constant and always there when she had needed him. She had grown accustom to the feel of his kisses and his arms around her. The safe feeling, the warmth and the comfort.

But with Tristan it was different. It was settling, it was relaxation. It was complete freedom. With Dean, there was no problem with being herself and having no fear in that, but with Tristan it was something new, something to be nervous about, but she wasn't afraid either. Complete freedom.

He had shown himself to be a completely different person then she was used to. And yes, there were small moments that she had picked up on and that was the whole reason she was doing what she was doing, following him around, and she had seen it, right there at lunch. Then again, she ruined it completely but it wasn't expected. She didn't expect him to just come outside and show a completely different Tristan to her.

A damn her if it didn't interest her.

"Well, you got that right boys." She said to the CD player, stopping at the stop sign in front of her. She had a feeling she had seen the real thing in Tristan today, and she grinned.

"Well, Incubus knows it all."