Disclaimer : We do not own Gilmore girls, nor do we intend to, but we do own any original characters. Also the titles for the next two chapters were taken from the Motor Ace song 'Carry On'

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

Pairing: Trory of course!

Author's Note: Well, well, 2 updates in one week. Pretty surprising, even for me =)…Anyway here's part 2…its not as long as the others but essential nonetheless. Thanks again to all your lovely reviews…it means a lot to me!

Chapter Four: [part 2] …But every one seems to carry on

" This is unbelievable! " Rory unashamedly cried out. " We have to wait an hour or two? Can't you see this guy is in pain?"

"Join the queue, " said the receptionist indifferently, indicating to the large amount of people seated with Jess in the waiting area.

Defeated, Rory stomped back to her seat.

"It's OK. I'll be fine – just as long as I'm sitting down. We can actually use this time to catch up…I mean, the last I've heard of you was that you were making a name for yourself in L.A which leaves me wondering…What exactly are you doing here in New York ?"

"I'm on an assignment. I'm covering the story of Tristan and Vivienne's wedding." Rory replied, trying her best to sound unaffected

"You're the journalist?"

"Yeah I am"

"You're OK with that ?"

"Yeah I am."

"Are you sure because- "

"-Jess, enough with the questions already," Rory interrupted with a hint of laughter. "I think we've heard enough about me. Let's delve into something interesting like… how have you been doing ?"

After various conversations, with a few phone call breaks in between, the hour or so spent waiting, went by and before they knew it, Jess' name was finally called out for the doctor to attend to.

As the nurses helped him up to the room, Rory walked beside him and re-ignited a conversation with her newly acquainted friend.

"Why were you in such a hurry back at the hotel ?"

A slight smile played on his lips at the mention of the question. " I was running late on meeting my 'tardiness hating' girlfriend. I apparently got the wrong floor that's why I took the stairs."

"Girlfriend ?" Rory asked in surprise.

"Yeah…I have a feeling you know who she is. Paris Gellar sound familiar ? "

"Paris ? The Paris that once intimidated a guy to transfer to another school ? That's…unexpected but… a nice match," she re-assured him.

"Well I don't blame you for being surprised. We only got together the day we found out we had more in common than just matching insults. You know, now that I think about it, she has kind of changed."

They reached the room and Rory was about to state her opinion when a voice from behind her completely contradicted his statement,

"What the hell did you do to my boyfriend ?"

"It's nice to see you too"

Dressed appropriately in business attire, Paris rushed to her Jess' side.

"It's OK. I'm probably just going to need a couple bandages, that's all."

"Are you sure?" Paris asked, her voice considerably more tender, "Because if you're not, I'll kick her ass"

"Excuse me?," Came Rory's objection. But she went unnoticed.

"This is going to put my two day visit to New York remarkably uneventful," Paris jokingly said.

"So you don't live here? " Rory questioned.

Paris finally glanced up to notice Rory. "Yeah, I have no stable home. My job disallows me to have one."

"But Jess lives here?"

It was now Jess' time to talk. He gave a sheepish grin to his girlfriend then turned around to face Rory.

"We're living proof that long distant relationships work."

As soon as he said it, she gave the happy couple a seemingly genuine smile; disguising the fact that a huge ache filled her heart.

***

It was now seven o'clock.

Tristan had all but given up for the arrival of Rory.

Vivienne was out to see her dad in the hospital, so he was all alone—and bored out of his mind. His momentary lapse led him to one of the few things he shared with Viv-- the bookshelf. He then picked up the first thing he saw,

"David Copperfield…,' he said quietly as he sat down on the couch to absorb himself into the book. Before he knew it, he was thinking about the girl who managed to change him more than once…

When they first started dating, she brought a whole new light to him. She made him laugh. She made him smile just at the sound of her voice. She also made him realise that the old cliché of rich boys being unable to love was completely untrue.

Ironically, she was also the person who changed him again into the person he was today: a bonafide Dugrey; cold and unemotional.

He shook his head to clear his thoughts and silently berated himself at the fact that a mere book was enough to make him start thinking about Rory again. He got up to find another source of entertainment but the sound of the doorbell made him change directions and head towards the door.

'Must be Vivienne' he thought to himself.

He thought wrong.

"Please don't slam the door on my face," said a very flustered Rory.

"About that…"

"I'm sorry," they both said at the same time but only Rory elaborated "…that I'm late"

Checking his watch and hoping his apology wasn't heard he carelessly replied, "Four hours to be exact"

"Im really sorry, its just that my friend- "

"-it's OK. We can reschedule –again. If that's fine with you of course."

"Yeah fine," Rory replied a bit too enthusiastically, " Just call to make an appointment"

Tristan agreed with a nod with his head then tried to think of something else to say. Luckily Rory spoke first,

"I think I should go now"

"I think so too"

Feeling a little hurt at his obvious want to get rid of her, she turned around to leave without a further word but Tristan unexpectedly stopped her,

"You know, you didn't have to come over and tell me this. You could've told me the next day…I would've understood."

She locked her eyes onto his serious gaze and gave him a sad smile.

"I know"

***

Rory walked into her hotel room feeling as if a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders. It was due to the fact that he actually spoke to her beyond the expected monosyllable sentences and that he didn't slam the door.

She reached the living room and suddenly got the chills. Following her senses, she found the source of her sudden coldness;

The window was still open.

Rolling her eyes at her incompetence to remember simple things, she walked over to it and was about to close it shut when she noticed the evening sky.

She knew it would give her bad memories but there was something about seeing the sky in a different location that was just so intriguing.

Despite several inner protests, she allowed herself to be taken in --and allowed herself to remember.

"Just like fireflies…" she whispered.

On the other side of New York, little did she know that another troubled soul was also staring up at the stars; the stars that were hidden beneath a blanket of the evening clouds.

"Just like fireflies," he too whispered.

***

Authors Notes 2: Hey there. Its become customary to write something at the bottom but I realise that this time that I have nothing to say. Ummm…tell me what you think so far ? Yea.. there that should be enough..=)