How Can I Make You Understand?

A/N:  I just wanted to say thank you so much to those of you who reviewed!!! It really helps, considering this is the first fanfic I've ever written :) 

            Also, for those of you who were wondering about why Rory didn't tell Tristan in the letters that she wasn't going out with Jess, it was because she only thought of Jess as a friend, and assumed that Tristan would know that she would tell him if they were anything more.  However, Tristan let his jealousy rule his thoughts, and worried that although Jess and Rory weren't together now, they would be in the future.  Hope that clears everything up!!!

            Keep reviewing!! Thanks!!!

                                                                                                            -Ivy

            Tristan was happier than he had been in months.  At that moment, he was flying over the ocean in a private jet on his way back to Hartford.  He smiled to himself; he was finally flying home to his Mary.

---

            Rory, on the other hand, wasn't doing so well.  At the same time that Tristan was on his way home, Rory was lying on her bed staring at a picture someone had taken of Tristan and Rory.  Rory and Tristan were lying on opposite ends of a hammock, with their feet meeting in the middle.  Rory had a book lying on her stomach, but at the moment the picture was taken she had been talking animatedly using her hands, and Tristan was watching every move she made with an adoring look in his eyes.  It was Rory's favorite, and had been taken just days before Tristan had left.  Days before their lives changed. 

            'Why hasn't he written?' Rory thought to herself.  'It's been two weeks since I sent the last letter to him, and he still hasn't written back.  Maybe he never received it…but normally he would've written anyway… Did I do something?  Has he finally realized that I don't live up to the DuGrey standards and forgotten about me?  What if he's hurt?  What if something's wrong?  God, I can't stand this…this not knowing…' At that second, Rory's thoughts were cut off by a brief knocking on her door, and then a voice, "Rory?"

            'Oh, crap.  I forgot I'm supposed to go to a movie with Jess today.'  "Oh, hey, Jess.  Come on in.  I just have to grab my stuff and I'll be ready to go." Rory called.

            Jess could sense that something was off.  "You know, Ror, we don't have to go to the movie if you don't want to.  We could just take a walk or something…"

            Rory paused; how did he always know exactly what she was thinking…"If you don't mind…"

            "Rory, come on.  Do you honestly think I'm gonna cry over not being able to see some new chick flick?" Jess smiled.

            "Thanks, Jess."

            As Rory and Jess walked out of Rory's steps and began their walk around Stars Hollow, Jess glanced over at her.  What was wrong with her today?  She seemed so out of it.  In the short time they'd been walking, she'd almost run into a light post, and had tripped over one of Babette's gnomes.

            "You okay, Ror?"

            Rory looked up, "Yeah, Jess, I'm just fine."

            Jess just stared at her.

            "Tristan."

            "Aahhh…." To Jess, that one word spoke volumes.  He knew that Rory loved him, even though she refused to admit it.  However, due to Rory's behavior, he had a feeling that Tristan hadn't been making his weekly contact with her.

            "He hasn't written.  He always writes!!!  What if he's hurt?  What if he's gone off and forgotten about me?  What if he's replaced me with a model?  I mean, come on, look at me, I'm nothing…"  Rory broke down into tears.

            Jess hugged her against him, leading her to the bench outside of Doose's.   "Come on, Ror, this is Tristan you're talking about.  If this punk is everything you say he is, he's not likely to just go off and forget about you.  And who could forget you anyway?  You, Rory Gilmore, are unforgettable.  And as for Tristan being hurt, I have a sneaking suspicion that he's just fine."  As Jess said this, he was looking across the street at a blond boy leaning against the hood of a black Porsche. 'So, Tristan finally makes his reappearance, huh?  It's about time,' he thought to himself.  With that, he looked at Rory, weeping in his arms, and looked up at Tristan, giving him a nod.

--

            As Tristan drove into the familiar town of Stars Hollow for the first time in almost six months, he looked around, taking in all the sights that held such fond memories for him.  The gazebo, where he and Rory had shared so many study sessions and conversations; the Inn, where they spent half of their time just lounging around in that old hammock; Luke's, where they had gone for lunch almost every day, with Rory insisting that Luke made the best coffee in the whole entire universe.  And then he saw her, crying into a scruffy-looking boy's shoulder outside of Doose's Market.  He pulled over to the curb, parked, and then proceeded to get out and lean against his Porsche, taking in the sight of her.  He assumed the dark-haired guy was Jess.  Lorelai had explained the whole Jess – Rory situation to him, reassuring him that it was nothing to worry about.  When she told him that, he had almost backed out, but it had to be done.  He had to tell Rory how he felt.  She may not have been interested in Jess, but he knew other guys would come along.  She was irresistible.  And he just had to know what could have been.

            He saw Jess look up and nod.  It was now or never.

            "Mary, Mary…."