Disclaimer : One point five percent. Thats how much of this story I own. Just the plot and whatever extra characters that are added.
Feedback : Sure.
A/N : Ladies and Gentleman, this is a semi-long one (for me, that is). Sit back, prop your feet up and get comfy. Just don't fall asleep.
"Don't Say You Love Me"
Chapter 17
Tristan's eyes grew wide as he watched the photographer run off and disappear into the sea of people. Then, as his brain began to function again, he pried Crystal's arms from around him, noticing she still hadn't let him go. "Umm.." He mumbled incoherently.
Crystal giggled, placing a finely manicured hand on his upper arm, clearly taking amusement in seeing him uncomfortable. "Whats wrong, Tris? Cat got your tongue?"
Shaking his head, Tristan roughly removed her hand from his arm, dropping it like it was on fire. "What are you doing here?"
"Thats not a very nice way to greet an old friend," Crystal pouted.
"We were never friends."
"I seem to recall differently," Crystal murmured, leaning closer to him again.
Tristan immediately glared at her and took a few steps away. "We weren't."
"Tristan, Tristan, must I refresh your memory?"
"No," Tristan said all too quickly. He silently cursed himself for his sudden answer.
Crystal smirked, flipping her dark hair over her shoulder. "Really, Tristan, after everything we did...."
"Shut up, Crys." Tristan interrupted. "Thats the past. The long gone and buried past. Leave it there."
"It wasn't that long ago," Crystal reminded him.
"Things change," Tristan said, swallowing the lump that had formed in his throat. "People change."
"Are you trying to deny what happened between us?"
"No. I just don't see any reason to drag the past up. I moved past all of that, Crys."
Crystal's mouth turned up into a sneer. "So who is she?"
"What?" Tristan asked, his blue eyes narrowing.
"Who is she? You've moved on with someone else, so who is she? Is she here? I would love to meet her."
Tristan cringed at the sarcastic tone of her voice. "She's not here," he said through clenched teeth.
"Oh, too bad. Guess I'll just have to make an appearance in Hartford. Gosh, she must be a real gem if you're passing up another chance at what we had." Crystal said haughtily.
"Leave us alone," Tristan seethed.
"Tell me, is she as good in bed as me?"
Holding back the urge to embarrass her beyond repair, Tristan smiled sickly sweetly. "Thats none of your goddamned business."
"Tsk, tsk. I bet she's not giving it up. Otherwise you wouldn't be so defensive." Crystal said, knowing she was pushing his buttons in all the wrong ways.
"Shut up, Crystal. You don't know her."
"Well, I'll just have to make a point in getting to know her then, won't I?" Crystal replied with a sardonic grin. "Yes, indeed."
"No. You'll leave her and me alone."
Crystal shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not."
"We don't need you meddling in our lives, Crys. We've had enough of bad karma to last a lifetime." Tristan said, his blue eyes glaring at her icily.
"Why is it such a bad thing that I want to get to know an old friends girlfriend?" Crystal asked, feigning innocence.
"We were never friends," Tristan said again.
"Hmm." Was the only reply he got.
Frustrated, Tristan turned on his heel, heading into the crowd in search of his father. He had to get out of there. Of all the people to run into on that night, he had to see her. The fact that they had a history wasn't that big of a deal. Rory was friends with Summer and she was his ex girlfriend. In fact, Rory had told him numerous times that just because he had his fill of girls in the past, didn't mean that he had to hide it from her. They had run into other girls that he had slept with in the past and she had always been pleasant towards them, if not ending up spending more time with them then he. But Crystal, she was different. Because with her, he had done things that he could not, would not ever admit to anyone, least of all Rory. He wasn't stupid, he wanted their relationship to last, but telling her about Crystal wouldn't help that along in the slightest. Really, he had forgotten all about her until this moment. Just when he was most vulnerable, away from Rory for the first time since their relationship had come to be and not on the best of terms with her at that. Sighing, he spotted his father a few feet away, chuckling at something the man next to him had been saying.
"Can I talk to you for a minute?" Tristan asked, knowing he was interrupting.
Darren DuGrey looked at his son disapprovingly, but nodded. "Certainly."
"Crystal's here."
That was all he had to say before Darren's face paled. Crystal Hennis was not the type of person he wanted his son, his only son, one he was insanely proud of, associating with. Especially with their history. The little fling that they had had during Tristan's time at Princeton had nearly cost his son everything, including his life. "I see."
"I have to leave."
"You do that."
"I'll see you back at the house, then."
"Goodnight," Darren said, patting his son on the back.
"Night," Tristan replied sullenly before turning around and exiting the building.
******
After getting back to the house and showering to remove any remnants of Crystal's scent from his body, Tristan checked the clock. It was after eleven, but he needed to talk to Rory. Lifting the phone from its cradle, he lightly punched in his home phone number.
Four rings. He was about to hang up when the scratchy, sleepy voice stopped him.
"Hello?"
"Hey."
Rory suppressed a yawn. "Aren't you supposed to be out frolicking around New York?"
"Can we not argue about that anymore, Ror? I'm sorry about yelling earlier."
Sighing, Rory leaned back on the bed, trying to ignore how lonely it was not having his warm body pressed against hers. "Consider it dropped. Whats wrong? You sound peeved."
Tristan swallowed hard. There were times like this he wished she wasn't so damned receptive, even in her weakened state. "Its nothing, really. Just one them overly boring and stuffy business parties."
Rory giggled, knowing full well how much he hated them. "Yuck."
"Yeah, yuck. Enough about me, how are you?"
"Going through caffeine withdrawals. My mom refused to let me have any and Im too drowsy to go make any. Come home and make me some?" She asked hopefully.
Tristan chuckled. "I'll he be home in a few days. But seriously, how are you feeling?"
"Like crap," Rory moaned and he heard a thud immediately after.
"Ror? What was that, are you okay?" He demanded, worry creeping into his voice.
"Owwch," Rory groaned. "I'm fine, just felt like cracking my skull against the headboard, thats all."
An open invitation if there ever was any and there was no way Tristan was going to pass up the opportunity, even if she was sick. "You know, you could always wait until I get home and we can do some cracking of the headboard together."
"Ugh. So not in the mood."
Tristan grinned in spite of himself. "Sorry, I couldn't resist. Are you going to be okay?"
"Yeah, I'll be fine. But Im gonna let you go. No coffee equals sleepy."
"Alright." Tristan reluctantly agreed. Even if he wanted to talk to her all night, he wouldn't keep her from getting her rest. Especially when she needed it. "I'll call you tomorrow."
"Kay. Miss you."
"Miss you, too. Now get some sleep."
"Gotcha."
And with that, the dialtone rang in his ears. Sighing, Tristan fell back onto his bed, crossing his fingers that Crystal didn't interfere with their relationship.
*****
Two Days Later
Lorelai burst into her daughters room, armed with two large cups of coffee and the days newspaper. Rory, whose fever had finally broken the day before, grinned happily. "Goddess!"
"Yes, I know."
"Give me the coffee and nobody gets hurt."
"Who said either of these are for you? Its common knowledge that I could polish off two cups of coffee in the same amount of time any other human being could drink one."
Rory pouted, her eyes large. "Pleeeeeeaaaaaseee, Mom. I haven't had any in almost two weeks."
"Two weeks?" Lorelai exclaimed, her mouth dropping open. "But, how, what, when, why, who," she sputtered.
"You, oh evil mother of mine. You're the one who blatantly refused your dying daughter a cup of the sweet, sweet stuff. See how you like it when you're old and feeble and I inform the mean nurses and doctors at your nursing home of your allergy to coffee." Rory said, sticking her tongue out.
Lorelai gasped. "You wouldn't."
"No, I wouldn't. If you give me coffee, now."
Sighing, Lorelai handed her one of the cups. "You're not nice."
"Mmmm...." Rory murmured, ignoring the comment. "I don't think I've ever tasted anything quite as amazing as this."
"Spoken like a true addictee!" Lorelai announced, her eyes glowing in agreement.
Rory grinned and downed the rest of the hot, brown liquid. Once it was gone, she handed the empty cup to her mother, who looked at her, confused. "What am I supposed to do with this?"
"Put it in the sink?" Rory suggested.
"Blasphemy. That would require getting up and walking downstairs and walking all the way back up here."
"But you would have to do that anyway, when you want more coffee." Rory pointed out.
Lorelai frowned, with the lack of anything else to say.
Rory just smirked and opened the newspaper her mother had brought up. She read all the articles, taking in the information she had missed while she had been in lala-land. After about thirty minutes, she put the paper down and gazed over at her mother, who was staring at something in the entertainment portion of the paper. "Hey, Mom?"
"What?" Lorelai said loudly, her head shooting up. Rory gave her a weird look.
"Umm, I was just wondering what time Luke was bringing dinner by. Im starving."
Lorelai fidgeting with the corner of the paper, her eyes studying Rory's. "Hmmm... Five, I think...." She said, her voice trailing off.
"Okay, whats going on in that head of yours?" Rory demanded.
"Nothing," Lorelai said quickly. Too quickly.
"Moo-oo-oo-m," Rory whined pitifully.
Lorelai glanced from her daughter to the picture in front of her. The picture of a certain young man who just happened to be in the arms of a young woman. One that was not in fact, Rory. She didn't want to jump to conclusions, nor did she want Rory too, but she couldn't hide the picture from her. Okay, so maybe she could, but in the end, that would just hurt her more. Cursing Tristan under her breath, she handed the paper over to the younger of the two.
Rory stared at the paper, unable to comprehend what she was seeing. Tristan - her Tristan, in the arms of another woman? It wasn't possible. He loved her! He would never do such a thing..... But the picture, the image before her told a different story. Unwillingly a sound, which sounded more like a wounded animal then anything remotely human escaped her throat and tears began to fall, blurring the photo that had already been burned in her memory. The world was suddenly closing in on her.
*****
I feel like dragging this out. We need some good drama going on around here. Not that this is good drama, but its not a bad substitute, yes? Anyway, I'll put your fears to rest now, in the end, Troryness will prevail. This is just a slight detour :) How long it'll last, thats all up to my warped mind. Stay tuned.
Shay
Feedback : Sure.
A/N : Ladies and Gentleman, this is a semi-long one (for me, that is). Sit back, prop your feet up and get comfy. Just don't fall asleep.
Chapter 17
Tristan's eyes grew wide as he watched the photographer run off and disappear into the sea of people. Then, as his brain began to function again, he pried Crystal's arms from around him, noticing she still hadn't let him go. "Umm.." He mumbled incoherently.
Crystal giggled, placing a finely manicured hand on his upper arm, clearly taking amusement in seeing him uncomfortable. "Whats wrong, Tris? Cat got your tongue?"
Shaking his head, Tristan roughly removed her hand from his arm, dropping it like it was on fire. "What are you doing here?"
"Thats not a very nice way to greet an old friend," Crystal pouted.
"We were never friends."
"I seem to recall differently," Crystal murmured, leaning closer to him again.
Tristan immediately glared at her and took a few steps away. "We weren't."
"Tristan, Tristan, must I refresh your memory?"
"No," Tristan said all too quickly. He silently cursed himself for his sudden answer.
Crystal smirked, flipping her dark hair over her shoulder. "Really, Tristan, after everything we did...."
"Shut up, Crys." Tristan interrupted. "Thats the past. The long gone and buried past. Leave it there."
"It wasn't that long ago," Crystal reminded him.
"Things change," Tristan said, swallowing the lump that had formed in his throat. "People change."
"Are you trying to deny what happened between us?"
"No. I just don't see any reason to drag the past up. I moved past all of that, Crys."
Crystal's mouth turned up into a sneer. "So who is she?"
"What?" Tristan asked, his blue eyes narrowing.
"Who is she? You've moved on with someone else, so who is she? Is she here? I would love to meet her."
Tristan cringed at the sarcastic tone of her voice. "She's not here," he said through clenched teeth.
"Oh, too bad. Guess I'll just have to make an appearance in Hartford. Gosh, she must be a real gem if you're passing up another chance at what we had." Crystal said haughtily.
"Leave us alone," Tristan seethed.
"Tell me, is she as good in bed as me?"
Holding back the urge to embarrass her beyond repair, Tristan smiled sickly sweetly. "Thats none of your goddamned business."
"Tsk, tsk. I bet she's not giving it up. Otherwise you wouldn't be so defensive." Crystal said, knowing she was pushing his buttons in all the wrong ways.
"Shut up, Crystal. You don't know her."
"Well, I'll just have to make a point in getting to know her then, won't I?" Crystal replied with a sardonic grin. "Yes, indeed."
"No. You'll leave her and me alone."
Crystal shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not."
"We don't need you meddling in our lives, Crys. We've had enough of bad karma to last a lifetime." Tristan said, his blue eyes glaring at her icily.
"Why is it such a bad thing that I want to get to know an old friends girlfriend?" Crystal asked, feigning innocence.
"We were never friends," Tristan said again.
"Hmm." Was the only reply he got.
Frustrated, Tristan turned on his heel, heading into the crowd in search of his father. He had to get out of there. Of all the people to run into on that night, he had to see her. The fact that they had a history wasn't that big of a deal. Rory was friends with Summer and she was his ex girlfriend. In fact, Rory had told him numerous times that just because he had his fill of girls in the past, didn't mean that he had to hide it from her. They had run into other girls that he had slept with in the past and she had always been pleasant towards them, if not ending up spending more time with them then he. But Crystal, she was different. Because with her, he had done things that he could not, would not ever admit to anyone, least of all Rory. He wasn't stupid, he wanted their relationship to last, but telling her about Crystal wouldn't help that along in the slightest. Really, he had forgotten all about her until this moment. Just when he was most vulnerable, away from Rory for the first time since their relationship had come to be and not on the best of terms with her at that. Sighing, he spotted his father a few feet away, chuckling at something the man next to him had been saying.
"Can I talk to you for a minute?" Tristan asked, knowing he was interrupting.
Darren DuGrey looked at his son disapprovingly, but nodded. "Certainly."
"Crystal's here."
That was all he had to say before Darren's face paled. Crystal Hennis was not the type of person he wanted his son, his only son, one he was insanely proud of, associating with. Especially with their history. The little fling that they had had during Tristan's time at Princeton had nearly cost his son everything, including his life. "I see."
"I have to leave."
"You do that."
"I'll see you back at the house, then."
"Goodnight," Darren said, patting his son on the back.
"Night," Tristan replied sullenly before turning around and exiting the building.
******
After getting back to the house and showering to remove any remnants of Crystal's scent from his body, Tristan checked the clock. It was after eleven, but he needed to talk to Rory. Lifting the phone from its cradle, he lightly punched in his home phone number.
Four rings. He was about to hang up when the scratchy, sleepy voice stopped him.
"Hello?"
"Hey."
Rory suppressed a yawn. "Aren't you supposed to be out frolicking around New York?"
"Can we not argue about that anymore, Ror? I'm sorry about yelling earlier."
Sighing, Rory leaned back on the bed, trying to ignore how lonely it was not having his warm body pressed against hers. "Consider it dropped. Whats wrong? You sound peeved."
Tristan swallowed hard. There were times like this he wished she wasn't so damned receptive, even in her weakened state. "Its nothing, really. Just one them overly boring and stuffy business parties."
Rory giggled, knowing full well how much he hated them. "Yuck."
"Yeah, yuck. Enough about me, how are you?"
"Going through caffeine withdrawals. My mom refused to let me have any and Im too drowsy to go make any. Come home and make me some?" She asked hopefully.
Tristan chuckled. "I'll he be home in a few days. But seriously, how are you feeling?"
"Like crap," Rory moaned and he heard a thud immediately after.
"Ror? What was that, are you okay?" He demanded, worry creeping into his voice.
"Owwch," Rory groaned. "I'm fine, just felt like cracking my skull against the headboard, thats all."
An open invitation if there ever was any and there was no way Tristan was going to pass up the opportunity, even if she was sick. "You know, you could always wait until I get home and we can do some cracking of the headboard together."
"Ugh. So not in the mood."
Tristan grinned in spite of himself. "Sorry, I couldn't resist. Are you going to be okay?"
"Yeah, I'll be fine. But Im gonna let you go. No coffee equals sleepy."
"Alright." Tristan reluctantly agreed. Even if he wanted to talk to her all night, he wouldn't keep her from getting her rest. Especially when she needed it. "I'll call you tomorrow."
"Kay. Miss you."
"Miss you, too. Now get some sleep."
"Gotcha."
And with that, the dialtone rang in his ears. Sighing, Tristan fell back onto his bed, crossing his fingers that Crystal didn't interfere with their relationship.
*****
Two Days Later
Lorelai burst into her daughters room, armed with two large cups of coffee and the days newspaper. Rory, whose fever had finally broken the day before, grinned happily. "Goddess!"
"Yes, I know."
"Give me the coffee and nobody gets hurt."
"Who said either of these are for you? Its common knowledge that I could polish off two cups of coffee in the same amount of time any other human being could drink one."
Rory pouted, her eyes large. "Pleeeeeeaaaaaseee, Mom. I haven't had any in almost two weeks."
"Two weeks?" Lorelai exclaimed, her mouth dropping open. "But, how, what, when, why, who," she sputtered.
"You, oh evil mother of mine. You're the one who blatantly refused your dying daughter a cup of the sweet, sweet stuff. See how you like it when you're old and feeble and I inform the mean nurses and doctors at your nursing home of your allergy to coffee." Rory said, sticking her tongue out.
Lorelai gasped. "You wouldn't."
"No, I wouldn't. If you give me coffee, now."
Sighing, Lorelai handed her one of the cups. "You're not nice."
"Mmmm...." Rory murmured, ignoring the comment. "I don't think I've ever tasted anything quite as amazing as this."
"Spoken like a true addictee!" Lorelai announced, her eyes glowing in agreement.
Rory grinned and downed the rest of the hot, brown liquid. Once it was gone, she handed the empty cup to her mother, who looked at her, confused. "What am I supposed to do with this?"
"Put it in the sink?" Rory suggested.
"Blasphemy. That would require getting up and walking downstairs and walking all the way back up here."
"But you would have to do that anyway, when you want more coffee." Rory pointed out.
Lorelai frowned, with the lack of anything else to say.
Rory just smirked and opened the newspaper her mother had brought up. She read all the articles, taking in the information she had missed while she had been in lala-land. After about thirty minutes, she put the paper down and gazed over at her mother, who was staring at something in the entertainment portion of the paper. "Hey, Mom?"
"What?" Lorelai said loudly, her head shooting up. Rory gave her a weird look.
"Umm, I was just wondering what time Luke was bringing dinner by. Im starving."
Lorelai fidgeting with the corner of the paper, her eyes studying Rory's. "Hmmm... Five, I think...." She said, her voice trailing off.
"Okay, whats going on in that head of yours?" Rory demanded.
"Nothing," Lorelai said quickly. Too quickly.
"Moo-oo-oo-m," Rory whined pitifully.
Lorelai glanced from her daughter to the picture in front of her. The picture of a certain young man who just happened to be in the arms of a young woman. One that was not in fact, Rory. She didn't want to jump to conclusions, nor did she want Rory too, but she couldn't hide the picture from her. Okay, so maybe she could, but in the end, that would just hurt her more. Cursing Tristan under her breath, she handed the paper over to the younger of the two.
Rory stared at the paper, unable to comprehend what she was seeing. Tristan - her Tristan, in the arms of another woman? It wasn't possible. He loved her! He would never do such a thing..... But the picture, the image before her told a different story. Unwillingly a sound, which sounded more like a wounded animal then anything remotely human escaped her throat and tears began to fall, blurring the photo that had already been burned in her memory. The world was suddenly closing in on her.
*****
I feel like dragging this out. We need some good drama going on around here. Not that this is good drama, but its not a bad substitute, yes? Anyway, I'll put your fears to rest now, in the end, Troryness will prevail. This is just a slight detour :) How long it'll last, thats all up to my warped mind. Stay tuned.
Shay