She remembered that he hadn't wanted to go to that stupid bachelor's party. R. Jonathan Keith, one of his best coworkers, and good friends, was getting married to a woman who had gotten pregnant, another one of the money grubbing hoes, and this one had managed to hook him. That had been what Tristan had told her, and that he didn't want to leave her, ever, and especially tonight. They wanted to be able to say that they had been together every minute of the day of the morning after. He however, couldn't miss this. She knew there were a million things she could do, but she didn't want to. She wanted to sit here and miss Tristan, although he had only been gone an hour. She tidied up the apartment, till it was immaculate. She worked a little bit on her piece, on a lawsuit going on against a man who was a child pornographer. Even that couldn't keep her mind preoccupied, so she called her mother.

"Rory!"

"Hey Mom."

"How is everything?"

"Good."

"You usually have a million details from your and Tristan's relationship to make me want to run to the toilet with."

"Yeah," she said, thinking, if only she knew.

"What are you keeping from me?"

"Nothing. How's Luke? Talked to dad lately?"

"You are so avoiding the subject! Oh My God! You had sex with him!"

"Did not."

"How did my daughter turn into a terrible liar?"

She blushed, and said, "Not lying."

"Sure. Sure. Sure. Good god! Where is he now?"

"At some stupid bachelors party."

"Eww."

"Exactly."

They talked for a little bit more, before their conversation drifted and they said goodbye. Once again she was left with nothing to do. She was near dire boredom, so she popped in a tape and watched it.

A few miles away, Tristan was sitting with a group of his friends. He'd already thrown a few of the strippers off of him, pointing them in the general direction of his single asshole friends. One guy leaned over, and said, "Come on Tristan, she'll never know about one glass of wine." His thoughts swirled and he downed it in one gulp. That was just the beginning. One glass always turns into two, and two to three, and three to the whole bottle. Tristan was drinking hard, living in the second, and he forgot about the beautiful girl he loved, sitting back home. At about two he stumbled and collapsed into a cab, a bottle of vodka clutched in his hand. He drank in the elevator, and threw the bottle into a trashcan right before he opened his door.

Rory heard the key twist and smiled, "Hey Tristan! What took so long?" She ran up to him and hugged him, and he said, "Miss me, Mary?" He kissed her passionately, forcefully and she pulled away. "Tristan, your drunk?"

"What are you talkin' about?" he said, smacking her ass.

"Tristan!"

"Babe, I've already fucked you so will you just lay off the innocent act?"

She stood speechless. Tristan, her Tristan had not just said that. She started to cry, and ran off to the guest bedroom, and collapsed onto the bed. He passed out in his own bed shortly after.

She packed her bags and left Manhattan for Hartford just an hour later. She was angry, hurt, and ashamed, and she was leaving. Nobody expected her, and she knew she was getting stares from her constant crying. She boarded the plane, and she hoped to fall asleep, but his words haunted her. When they landed, she rented a car and drove to her mother's house. She flung open the door and laid in her bed, hiding from the world, and procrastinating dealing with it till the following day.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

The sun woke up Tristan, as well as the massive headache, and he realized that this was the first day in many years that he had not woken before the sun. With that realization, came the memory of what he had done the night before to Rory. "Damn it," he said out loud. He pulled himself up, and stumbled around, swearing to plead and beg for her forgiveness that he knew he didn't deserve. He looked through the living room, and then opened the door to the guest bedroom. Her stuff was gone, and he knew she had left him. He collapsed on the bed, and stared harshly at the ceiling, realizing that once again he'd ruined his own life, just when it was starting to get good. Soft tears that he rarely experienced trailed down his cheeks, and he hated his life.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Lorelei woke up Rory, deathly surprised that she was there, and even more curious then surprised. Rory was mad, and sad, and troubled. She asked for no coffee, and simply rolled over away from Lorelei and announced that she didn't want to talk about it. Lorelei wondered what could happen that would push her daughter away even from her. She was sure it had something to do with Tristan, and if he hurt her, she would kill him, but she simply gritted her teeth and sipped her coffee.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Rory woke up, and when she saw her walls, buried her head in her pillow. She was supposed to wake up with Tristan, and the past night was all supposed to have been an awful, terrible, scary bad dream. She realized that the man she thought she loved had hurt her, worse than anybody ever had. She wanted to scream or cry or to kill him, but she just lay there, and wished things hadn't changed. She had been having the best time of her life, and now, she just felt like she should regret it. She thought she had found "the one" but he was the one who had hurt her. Her future seemed unsure, Bridget would let her have a few days off, but she would have to go back to Manhattan, where he was and then find an apartment and do things she had prayed she wouldn't ever have to do. She started crying, and curled under her covers, in the safety of her own bed.