On the car drive to Stars Hollow

"How can you listen to this crap?" asked Rory as Justin Timberlake's 'Like I love you' flowed out of the car stereo.

"It's not crap, Ror," muttered Tristan.

"Yes it is, it's just a guy going on about how much girls fawn over him," said Rory. She paused for a while. "Actually, now that I think about it, he sounds just like you. Y'know one of those player type guys that have everything they want in their life."

Tristan looked away. "Not everything. They're missing something that they desperately want and need, so to make up for that, they take all and give nothing in return. The world owes them."

He stopped the car as a red light came on, and took out the CD. Silence overcame the car. Rory glanced at him surprised at the sudden change in attitude and picked out a different topic.

"I wonder how Lane will look like," she mused aloud.

Tristan smiled. "She'll look damn pretty, I bet she'll be glowing. It's going to be the most important day of her life."

Rory nodded. "I haven't seen her in ages. I hope she still remembers me. I haven't talked to her since…"

"It's ok, Rory. We'll not delve into that now. But you have to know that sometime soon, you'll have to tell her and your mum about… that night. It just wouldn't be right for you to leave out an important detail about your life to your most closest friends." Tristan glanced at Rory, as a thoughtful look came over her face.

"I know."

An hour later

Tristan finally rolled the car to a complete halt in Rory's old driveway. He looked at the passenger seat and discovered that his angel was still asleep. He smiled and shook her to wake up. She stirred, but did nothing more than that. Tristan leant close to her ear, and whispered that they have arrived to Stars Hollow. No reaction.

Leaving no other option to him, he got out of the car and got to the passenger side of the car. He carried Rory in his arms, making sure that she was safe. He walked casually to the door, as if Rory's weight was nothing to him. It probably wasn't. Once he reached to the door, he discovered that he couldn't open the door without at least the possibility of Rory falling out of his arms.

Then, suddenly the door opened and Lorelai appeared. Tristan looked at her in shock, as if she had just appeared out of thin air.

"What are you doing, carrying my beloved daughter?" asked Lorelai, a confused look on her face.

Tristan blushed. "She was sleeping and I didn't know how to wake her up. So, I carried her as it'll probably be more comfortable for her and make it easier for me."

Lorelai nodded, but there was still a questioning glint in her eye. "Why is Rory with you in the first place? Who are you, young man? Do I know you? I might know you actually, because I've probably seen you when you were small and still an ugly baby but now that you've changed into a handsome young thing, you'll probably look different." She paused. "I'm blabbering, aren't I? Never mind, come in and you can put Rory in her bed. I'll show you where her room is."

She let Tristan walk in, and showed him where Rory's room was. She noticed the gentle way that he placed Rory in her bed and the loving kiss on the forehead afterwards. Seeing him tuck her daughter in that way made her realise how close Tristan is in a way that she once was.

"Young man, let's go out. I think we need to talk," said Lorelai, and she led Tristan out of Rory's room, shutting the door quietly but firmly.

They sat on the couch, and contemplated each other first. Lorelai was the first to open her mouth.

"What's your name, young man?" she asked.

"Tristan, ma'am. Tristan DuGrey," he replied.

"Stop the ma'am business. You make it sound like I'm 74 and on the way to my deathbed. I assure you that I am nowhere near that so just call me Lorelai. If you don't… then it will be you who will die a slow and painful death."

"Yes, ma… Lorelai."

"Ok, so tell me why my daughter is with the infamous Bible Boy, whom 5 years ago would have sent her into a nasty state of rashes."

"We met a while ago and reconciled our differences, we're pretty close now."

"I see. No, actually I don't see. What are you doing here? How do you know where Rory lives?"

"Remember when we did that Romeo and Juliet play? Well, when we came here, Rory told me where her house was in case of an emergency."

"Uh-huh. Rite. You have a great memory by the way."

Tristan smiled at the off-hand compliment.

"So how did you meet my gorgeous daughter, oh Satan's spawn?"

"Satan's spawn? C'mon now, I thought that Bible boy was bad enough, but now I know that this is just horrendous. I mean, I knew I was horrible when younger, but aren't you going a wee bit too far?"

"No, you deserve it," grinned Lorelai. She liked Tristan already.

"Well," Tristan paused. How was he supposed to tell her that he met her daughter in a club, picked her up, took her to his apartment and had sex with her? He didn't. "We have mutual friends, so we caught up with the past and now we're as shiny as a new penny."

"Mm-hmm. So, how close are you two anyway?"

"We're pretty close. We live together, so I know all those annoying little quirks that go along with Rory's personality."

As soon as Lorelai heard the part of Rory and Tristan living together, her mouth fell open. She was shocked.

"You live together?" she asked, danger written all over her voice…