A/N: Once again, I am amazed at the response this fic has received. Seeing as how if I don't restrain myself, I will post a chapter every hour (which, while good for you, will eventually hurt me with severe sleep loss), I am going to tell you this. There will be a new chapter up every other day by 10:00 pm Eastern time. So the next update will be tomorrow, Monday. Then Wednesday (the 4th), Friday (the 6th), Sunday (8th), Tuesday (10th), Thursday (12th), etc., etc. Just so you know when to expect it. If I miss the due date, then you will have TWO chapters by the next day. Hope that makes sense.

Oh, and, just so you know, no matter which couple triumphs, both Tristan and Jess will have pretty big parts in this story.

Rating: PG-13

Pairing: R/T, R/J

Disclaimer: I do not own "Gilmore Girls." That is owned by Amy Sherman-Palladino and the WB. I do, however, own most of this storyline (some was taken from previous episodes), so steal that and I will haunt you for the rest of your life.

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Jess looked up when he heard the cup crash to the floor. He jumped out from behind the counter and ran up to Rory, who was staring at something out the window. He started picking up the shards of glass that were littering the floor.

"Rory? Rory, what's the matter?"

She turned to look at him. Her expression was confused, but at the same time joyous. His heart clenched when he looked past her and saw Tristan DuGrey across the street. Him. Jess thought back to the last time he had seen him…

Tristan was wiping something off his daughter's face. Probably icing from the cake she was eating. Or at least trying to eat. Jess sighed as he looked at Rory. Her expression was happy; she was happy. With Tristan and her daughter. She was happy with them. He wished he'd asked her out before Tristan had.

She and Dean had broken up after the little episode when Lorelai had been out of town, at a spa with her mother, Rory's grandmother. Jess had gone over with some food, knowing she'd be hungry. A friend of hers – Paris? – was there, as well, much to his dismay. But luckily, they'd all gotten into a stimulating discussion about books. The time had passed quickly, and Rory had gotten a call from Dean. He was coming over. She'd tried to get him out in time, but they'd run into Dean as soon as they'd gotten to the porch. They'd almost had a fight. She'd broken it up, then broke up with Dean the next day, before school.

He'd thought, then, that maybe he had a chance. Maybe she'd broken up with Dean because she had feelings for him, Jess, "The nice young hoodlum in the back." But the next time he'd seen her after the break-up, she and Tristan were laughing. He put his arm around her shoulders. And Jess knew that he'd lost.

He shook himself back to the present. Rory was laughing at something Tristan had said. She was smiling, he was smiling, Tricia was smiling. They were all smiling. Lorelai walked over and picked Tricia up, saying something Jess couldn't quite make out, then walked away with the little girl in her arms. Tristan scooted his chair closer to Rory's and kissed her, smiling. He whispered something in her ear, and stood up. Rory followed. They walked to the porch of Lorelai, Rory, and Tricia's house. The Gilmore Residence.

"Hello, and thank you for coming," Tristan began. "As you all know, this is our daughter's first birthday party, and I wanted to say something to her mother."

Rory furrowed her brow, and looked questioningly at Tristan. Jess sighed again. She looked so adorable when she did that. He was a love-sick fool, and he knew it.

"Lorelai Leigh Gilmore, I love you. You are the light of my life, and I don't know what I'd ever do without you. I'm going to ask you something I've asked you only once before, and this time I hope you'll give me a different answer." Rory was beginning to look panicked. "Rory, will you become my wife, and let me spend the rest of my life devoting myself to you?"

Jess almost stopped breathing. He looked quickly at Rory, and was delighted (though he immediately cursed himself for being so) to see that she didn't seem to have the slightest inclination to say yes. Her eyes had filled with tears, and she ran off the porch, towards the lake. And the bridge. Tristan followed.

Talk immediately broke out among the guests. Everyone had a different theory. Rory was pregnant again. Tristan's parents were threatening to disown him if he didn't marry the girl he'd gotten pregnant. The stories were all over the place. Jess ignored them, hoping Rory would come back.

Tristan came back, about five minutes later. He walked over to Lorelai and took Tricia in his arms, smiling at her and kissing her on the cheek. He stroked her hair before handing her back to Lorelai. Lorelai guessed what he was going to do and grabbed his sleeve before he could leave. She said something to him, and Tristan shook his head. He turned his back on the party, got in his car, and sped away. They hadn't seen him since.

The bell above the door sounded, and Tristan walked in the diner. A hush fell over it, and he walked over to Rory.

"Hey," he said, a bit breathlessly.

"Hi…" Rory replied.

Jess sighed and grabbed a broom and dustpan. Then, sweeping the rest of the mess into the latter, he walked behind the counter.

***

"Mommy?" Tricia frowned at her mother.

"Tricia … how about you go help Jess, okay?" Rory responded, still staring at Tristan out of the corner of her eye.

Tricia's eyes lit up and she bounced out of her seat, and ran behind the counter to Jess, who smiled at her before taking her into the kitchen. Tristan followed her with his eyes.

"That's our daughter?" He asked, sitting in the seat Tricia had just vacated.

"Yeah, that's her. She's twelve you know. Just last week." Rory frowned, "She was upset when she didn't get a card from you."

"That's because I decided to deliver it myself." Tristan paused. "Rory, I was sitting up in bed a few weeks ago, thinking about why I felt unfulfilled. That day at work had been particularly tiring, but I couldn't get to sleep. I kept thinking about her. And you. I want to … be a part of Tricia's life."

Rory collected her thoughts before answering. "Tristan, you can't just waltz in here and do that. She hasn't seen you since she was one year old, and I can bet she doesn't remember that. I want her to have a father figure just as much as you want to be that father figure. But if you seriously want to, then you have to let me do it my own way. Okay?"

"Whatever works for you, Rory. I want to be a part of your lives, if you'll let me."

Rory smiled, "Of course I'll let you. We just have to do this slowly, that's all." She stood up with him and hugged him tight before whispering fiercely in his ear, "But if you leave us again, no matter what the reason, trust me when I tell you there'll be hell to pay."