Pros and Cons – Chapter five

*FLASHBACK*

It was the first official day of the leadership conference. All the students from all over the country were assembled, more like crammed into the main hall. It was almost impossible to think with all the chattering that was echoing in the massive room. Trying to shield the noise, Rory covered her ears with her hand; it was unsuccessful since she could still hear what nearby groups we're discussing as she made her way around. Somehow she'd lost Paris amongst the crowd, and all the chattering was taking its toll.

"I swear, if I hear one more girl or guy talking about the opposite sex, and plans of checking them out during the conference, I will seriously scream. We are here to be better leaders, not to satisfy our libidos," she muttered to herself.

Someone whispered in her ear "Well Mary, there is nothing you can do about it, there are about five hundred 17 year old's attending this conference…need I say more?"

She turned to see who was the owner of the voice that caused butterflies to flutter in her stomach. She smiled when saw who it was..

"I didn't know it was possible for anyone to hear me with all this racket." She said, leaning over so he could hear her better.

"I have excellent hearing for your information."  Tristan replied leaning closer to her.

"That explains the big ears."

"I don't have big ears!"

"I know."

"I don't…" He realized that she agreed with him.

Rory was still beaming.

"So Mary, you have a very strong opinion of what the purpose of this conference should be? Are you prepared to go against approximately 499 students that think otherwise?"

"Are you one of the 499?"

"I was."

"You were?"

"Until a few minutes ago, when I finished checking out all the chicks. Only one seems to strike my fancy."

"And let me guess, she turned you down?"

"No."

"I'm lost."

"You may be surprised but I actually agree with what you think. How we're here to be better leaders. I thought I was the only one that thought that. At least now I'm not alone. I guess it's down to 498."

"Well, I think the organizers made a terrible mistake about having an orientation day, it allows us teenagers with the opportunity to assess the possibilities before pouncing on the desired mate."

"You making us sound like animals."

"We are animals." Rory replied.

There was a moment of silence between the two before she asked,  "Tristan have you seen Paris?"

"No. The only familiar face I've seen today is you."

"Did you come here alone?"

"Unfortunately, the president-to-be of my high school tagged along."

"You sound as if you don't get along with him."

"Did I? We get along fine."

"I wouldn't be surprised if he had difficulty getting on with you anyway since he's male."

"I'll take that as an insult."

"It was supposed to be." She replied laughing, she added, "so you're going to be vice?"

"Yep. Seems we might have to see each other more than you'll like."

"Hey, I don't mind seeing you around, as long as you don't bring that ego of yours."

"It's part of the package."

"Have you met anyone interesting?" Rory asked changing the subject.

"Not yet, we are here for most of the summer. Got heaps of time."

"Have you been to the capital before?"

"A few times, but not much, it's isn't exactly my favorite place."

"Can't handle too much politics?"

"I can handle lots of things."

Rory shook her head, knowing what he meant.

"Ooh…"

"Hey, you wanna go outside for a walk? I find it a bit too stuffy in here and the noise is getting to me. Plus, we can have more privacy where I can… relate to you more 'intimately'."

Rory cracked up laughing at the Sigourney Weaver imitation.

"I hope you're smart enough to realize that the last part was just a joke."

"I do."

"So what will it be? Stay in stuffy room or walk outside with a hottie?"

Rory shook her head, her cheeks and her stomach already hurt from laughing too much, which was inflicted by him.

"The latter."

*END OF FLASHBACK*

She should have said stayed inside but then, Rory had no idea that her answer would have the ability to set off the many dominoes that would change her whole future.

Rory woke up.

Rays of sunlight were seeping through the curtains of her window.

She had managed to kick her blanket off while she slept and she got up groggily.

'Why didn't she wake me up?'

Her stomach was grumbling due to the lack of food and it was doing flip flops, making her feel nauseated. The taste of bile creeping up her esophagus then her throat made her dash for the bathroom. She heaved all the acidic fluid into the toilet bowl.

A hand began to pat and rub her back soothingly as she retched all the contents of her stomach. As usual there was the carrot bits, 'it's funny how whenever you vomit there is always carrot bits even if you didn't eat the orange vegetable.' It was at Stars Hollow High that she learnt it was stomach lining… 'or was it the bile from your liver? One of those two.' Rory couldn't believe she was actually thinking about that while she vomited.

Feeling there was nothing left, Rory slowly stood; flushing the toilet and watching the disgusting contents disappear.

Rory went over to the basin and splashed cold water onto her face and into her mouth to take the awful aftertaste away.

"Morning sickness sucks doesn't it?" Lorelai asked.

Rory didn't say anything.

"You should eat, you must be starving. I got leftover Chinese in the fridge, I'll go heat it up for you." She was about to head out when she turned towards Rory. "Sorry I didn't wake you up last night, you look like you needed your beauty sleep."

Rory managed a smile. When Lorelai left, she closed the bathroom door, craving for a nice hot shower.

****

Tristan opened the apartment door, kicking his bag in and after walking through, slammed the door shut making the surrounding walls rattle from its force.

An old man appeared from a room, he looked nervous. His nervous expression disappeared when he saw his grandson in the foyer.

"Tristan! You could have given me a heart attack! I thought there was an earthquake!"

Janlen could see the troubled look on Tristan's face.

Tristan smiled, however the smile failed to reach his eyes.

"Grandpa, you're too young to have a heart attack."

Janlen laughed at Tristan's remark.

Tristan watched his grandfather laugh. It was surprising to know that when he was younger he was the splitting image of Tristan. He had changed dramatically since then. His smooth tanned skin was now wrinkled and pale. His once blonde hair had changed over the years and was now a snowy white, but what failed to change were his eyes, they'd always been blue and it lit up when he laughed. Whenever he talked to Janlen, Janlen would always listen to him, looking at Tristan with those eyes that were full of knowledge.

Tristan then realized that his grandfather had stopped laughing a long time ago and was intently looking at him.

Tristan looked at his grandfather knowing what he was going to say

 4,3,2,1…

"There's something troubling you." It was a statement, not a question. Janlen knew his grandson to well.

"I'll get over it." Tristan muttered, picking up his bag and making his way towards his room

"If you want to talk about it, you know where to find me."

Tristan silently thanked Janlen for not pressing the matter any further. Right now, he wanted to get some sleep.

That wasn't exactly the truth.

What he really wanted right now the most was to forget about her.

But knew too perfectly well, that he would never forget her and that she will be waiting for him in his dreams.

A/N: So far, the only Trory action you'll get is in flashbacks, but I can tell you that Tristan and Rory are bound to meet again in the future. I hope you like this chapter. Thankyou for your feedback on this fic, it motivates me to write much quicker [bites lip]