Disclaimer : We do not own Gilmore girls, nor do we intend to, but we do own any original characters. Also the titles for the first two chapters were taken from the Bardot song 'These Days'

Rating: PG-13 though it might go as high as R. There may be some minor swearing in chapters.

Pairing: Trory of course!

Authors Note : Well, what can I say ??…I was really overwhelmed by the amount of reviews I received coz I honestly didn't expect to get that much. A big thank you to everyone that has given me their opinion so far. I really appreciate it =) …As for this story, I have all the ideas planned out since the beginning so its now just all a matter of putting it on paper. Ok enough of me babbling, here's chapter 2…

Broken Road

Chapter 2: …Long After You've Gone

" Arghh!! "

A frustrated scream escaped Rory's mouth for after 4 feeble attempts at trying to shut her suitcase she realised that she was going to have to either take some of her valuables out or bring an extra bag. With her belongings all holding equal amount of importance, she understandably found the second option more attractive.

"I win ! I just knew it wouldn't fit.! " Lorelai's distinctive voice rang through the speaker phone.

"Fine. You win mom but I could've sworn –"

"- Pshh…Enough with the excuses. Its time for you to pay up. "

Rolling her eyes, she grabbed the phone from the holder, walked over to her apartment window then yelled at the top of her lungs,

"L. A sucks!!… Stars Hallow rules!! "

She immediately closed her window and spoke back into the phone,

"You hear that just right mom?"

"The polar bears from Alaska can hear you Rory."

"You have got to come up with better material and better bet-losing consequences while you're at it. "

With an exaggerated sigh Lorelai replied, "You're right. But honey, you always lose. If only you started winning bets then I'm pretty sure I'd have more classy material to torture you with. "

Despite herself, Rory let out a soft laugh into the phone, loving every second spent talking with her geographically- distant mother.

"I miss you mom,' Rory said with a touch of sadness in her voice.

"But you wont for long!" Lorelai emphatically cried. "When you're in New York you'll only be a couple hours away from us and who knows… you might even find a cute guy friend there."

Rory could practically see her mother winking on the other side of the phone. Groaning she dryly replied, "I'm not looking for anyone at the moment and its not like I have the time seeing as my job is always keeping me on my toes."

"But Rory, you haven't dated anyone in 4 years. Ever since- "

"- please don't even mention it." Rory knew who's name was about to come out but she didn't want her mother to hear the hurt in her voice she tended to have every time she talked about anything Tristan-related.

Though nothing could ever stop her from thinking about him.

She had no –one to blame but herself for the demise of their relationship. After all, she was the one who packed up and left without a reason; at least that's how he would've perceived it. The fact is, she did have a reason but if she had any choice in the matter, she would never let him find out what. It would just cause too much conflict.

All she would ever want him to know was that she did it for him.

***

It was a long, tiresome day for Tristan and all he wanted to do as he reached the door of the apartment he shared with Vivienne was to fall back onto his bed and have a good night sleep. Not even the sight of Viv blatantly making out with another man was going to stop him. Its not like he hasn't seen it before.

As he reached his bedroom, he unceremoniously plopped down on his bed, shoes and all, intent on dozing off. That was not to be as the sound of two people going at it could still be heard.

"Would you guys keep it down there!! " Tristan yelled, his drowsy feeling starting to wear off.

Seconds later, Viv emerged through the door as she sat herself down on the bed beside him.

"Aww…What's wrong sweetie? " she playfully said, "Jealous are we?"

That was all it took to remove any last feeling of weariness in his body. He sat up to face his future wife and evenly replied,

"Not even close. You know our relationship is strictly for business purposes"

"Touche. Though that shouldn't stop you from actually having fun. "

"So you want me to constantly play tonsil hockey with random women? "

"No. I'm asking you to live a little. Just in case you forgot, were going to be married in a couple months and correct me if I'm wrong but I predict that our whole married life is going to be a bore because lets face it, I don't love you and I'm certainly past trying to get you to love me. "

The silence that followed her statement urged her to go on,

"Have your fun before we get to the altar because when we get there, there's no turning back; its for real. " Vivienne paused to tuck a stray piece of blond hair behind her ear, "I promise you Tristan, my sleezing around is going to stop as soon as we get married. I expect you to be doing the same."

"Of course. You have my word," Tristan mutely replied.

"Vii-iv," a manly voice rang out from the hallway.

Getting up from the bed, she walked towards the door but it wasn't without leaving one last comment,

"If you're holding out because of Rory then I suggest you forget about her. She's in the past Tristan. Shes gone…"

***

"Only one kilometre more to go," Rory chanted to herself as the taxi neared the airport. She had been tempted many times to tell the driver to turn the other way around but thought better of it as she realised she could lose the one thing keeping her sane; her job.

After so many years trying to avoid Tristan, here she was, heading towards an airport to see him –and Vivienne who's beautiful face had been seen graced on every single cover of every major magazine.

She was the envy of every woman on the planet. She had everything. She had Tristan.

The unfamiliar feeling of jealousy took over Rory then quickly disappeared as realisation dawned over her.

She was unprepared.

She knew she couldn't just waltz back into his life and expect him to act as if nothing happened.

He would want an explanation.

***

"Mr. Dugrey, the representative from Westmore Corporations Media Division is here to see you again," a more confident sounding Veronica said over the intercom.

"Send him in, " Tristan absently replied with a dart in hand, intent on landing it on the bulls-eye. He was just about to throw it when in walked Jess Mariano with a stack of papers.

"Your dad's company is in its final stages of securing the deal with Westmore and I just wanted to come here and run by some of my ideas on improving the New York Times," Jess said indicating to the proposal in his hand.

"Now is not a good time," Tristan grudgingly replied.

Jess walked over to the man who obviously got off on the wrong side of the bed. He took a dart from his hand and resumed speaking,

"What's up your ass today? Is it that time of the month again? "

"Shut up Jess. As a matter of fact, there's a lot going on." He was about to reply but Tristan continued on,

"-For instance, my whole family is relying on me to seal the deal with Viv's company. Its like for goodness sakes its my dad's company not mine. And speaking of Viv, I am actually scared to go into my own apartment for every time I come home I'm afraid that I'll interrupting one of her sessions with these, these- guys whose names she probably doesn't even remember. And you know what? To top it all off I have to meet with that journalist person tonight. "

All that was heard after Tristan's little outburst was the sound of a seemingly inaudible sentence from Jess,

"Gee, your life is perfect"

"Yep," Tristan surprisingly heard, eyes focused once again on the centre. He threw the dart that was still in his hand and it landed right on target.

" Perfect "

***

2 days have passed since Rory's arrival into the airy confines of New York and when she wasn't thinking of what to say to Tristan, she was actually enjoying herself. Megan had provided her well. She had all the adequate equipment necessary and a very nifty chauffer to drive the limo that would become her means of transport.

The ringing of the telephone interrupted her contemplation as she walked across the huge expanse of her hotel floor and into the dining room where the phone was held.

"Hello? "

"Hey Rory !" came the over-enthusiastic reply of Megan, " How's the Big Apple so far ? "

"Noisy but in a weird way, its kind of relaxing "

"Don't get used to that feeling because as of tonight, you're starting work "

"Tonight?"

"Well, you're not going to actually start but what you will be doing is getting the formalities out of the way and introducing yourself. You know the drill.

Rory knew this was moment was going to come but it surprised her nonetheless and it showed by her lack of response.

"Umm…Rory are you there? "

"I'm still here "

"Good to know. So…I think you're going to actually need their address."

"Of course. It would just be silly to not know the address of where I'm going," Rory said under a nervous laugh.

After she jotted the directions down and got off the phone, she steadied herself on a nearby chair and mentally prepared herself for the evening.

" It'll be fine."

***

"It'll be fine." Rory found herself chanting 5 hours later as the elevator dropped her to the floor of their apartment. She reached into her coat pocket to pull out the piece of paper that contained the room number,

"1 0 2 ," she said in a low whisper while scanning the whole floor. A few paces later, she was there.

Taking a huge intake of breath, she unwillingly brought a shaking hand to press the doorbell. A moment later, she heard the sound of footsteps nearing the door.

The eyes that were determinedly focused on the sight ahead of her, dropped abruptly to the ground at the sound of the door swinging open. When she finally found the nerve to look up again, she found the face of the guy she had been trying to forget about for years.

"Hi Tristan."

For a moment there, Rory could've sworn she saw a look of happiness in his eyes but it quickly disappeared leaving her to think it was a figment of her imagination.

What she was sure she did get was the sight of his silent, steady glare and the unmistakable sound of a door slamming on her face.

***

t b c