A/N – I'm slightly concerned…there weren't many reviews on Chapters 2 or 3…are you guys losing interest in the story, or am I doing a bad job of writing it?

Pairings thus far:  Tristan/Rory – 14 votes; Dean/Lane – 10 votes; Paris/Jess – 6 votes; Luke/Lorelai – 4 votes; Patty/Jesus – 2 votes.  Tristan/Paris received 10 votes; so, I could go with a Tristan/Rory and Paris/Jess, or do a triangle between Rory, Paris, and Tristan, or ask you guys to do a tiebreaker.  Which do you want it to be?

I realized that I messed up on the timing in Chapter 3, so I'm doing this as a fix-it chapter.  This is a sub-chapter, focusing on the encounter between Dean, Lane, Paris and Tristan, and happens right after Part One of Chapter 3, but before Part Two of Chapter 3.  Neither Rory nor Jess is in this chapter.

WOW, SMALL WORLD

PART ONE – DEAN, LANE, PARIS, TRISTAN

Paris watched, slightly dismayed as Tristan, closely followed by a petite Asian woman and a tall man with floppy hair, approached the table.

"Here you are, Paris.  An iced latte."  Tristan handed her the cup, before sliding into the seat next to her.  "This is Lane Kim, and Dean Forester."  He indicated the two strangers as they took chairs across the table.

"Hi."  Paris greeted them coolly.

"So…" Tristan began.

"So…" Lane echoed with a grin.  "Here we are."

"So it appears."  Paris commented.

"Tristan, you said you just moved here from North Carolina?"

"Hmm, no."  Tristan replied, setting down his coffee.  "I'm stationed in North Carolina.  I'm in Hartford on leave."

"Military?  What branch?"

"Army."

"I see."

"What do you do?"

"I'm a special education teacher in St. Louis, Missouri."

"So you're a little far from home, too, huh?"

"Yes and no…Dean and I both grew up about half an hour away from here, in a town called Stars Hollow.  I'm home on vacation."

"Stars Hollow?  That's it!  That's where Lory lived!"  Paris suddenly joined the conversation between Tristan and Lane.

"Lory?  I don't know of any Lory…there's a Lorelai, and a Rory, though."  Lane responded, puzzled.

"RORY!  That's her name!"  Paris squealed, snapping her fingers.

"How do you know Rory?"  Dean asked.

"We went to school together, at Chilton.  You remember her, don't you, Tristan?"

"Rory?  Hmm…what'd she look like?"  Tristan questioned, a thoughtful look on his face.

"Wait, you went to Chilton, too?"  Dean asked, his face carefully neutral.

"For a while…up until I got shipped off to military school.  Did you go there?"

"No, but I dated Rory for a while.  I think I may have figured out where I know you from."

"And where's that?"

"You're the accountant.  You had a thing for her."

Tristan frowned, as he thought back.  "Wait a second…are you talking about Mary?"

"Mary?"  It was Dean's turn to be puzzled.

"Yeah – she started at Chilton kind of late…pretty, brown hair, blue eyes, always reading.  She was in our Romeo and Juliet group, Paris."

"That would be Rory."  Paris responded.

"So basically, we all know Rory?"  Lane summed up the conversation.  "Wow, small world."

"I'd say knew."  Paris replied.  "I haven't seen her since we graduated."

Tristan nodded in agreement.  "I haven't even thought about her in years.  I guess the last time I saw her was the night I got pulled out of Chilton."

"She's home, you know." 

"That's nice."  Paris commented, seeming to lose interest in the conversation.

At that moment, Tristan's cell phone began to ring.  "Excuse me, I'll be right back."  He stood, and walked out of the coffee shop.

Paris, Lane and Dean sat in silence until Tristan returned.  "I'm terribly sorry to cut this short, but I have to go."

Dean glanced at his watch.  "We should probably head home, too, Lane.  I didn't realize how late it had gotten."

The four stood, and, after tossing their cups into a trashcan, left the coffee shop. 

On the way out, Paris addressed Lane and Dean.  "You know, why don't the four of us get together again sometime?"

Lane nodded.  "There's supposed to be some kind of festival in Stars Hollow next weekend – you two should come check it out."

"Sounds good."  Tristan said.  "What do you think, Paris?"

"Could be fun.  I'll have to see if I can make it, though.  Finals are coming up, and I need to go over my exam."

"You're a teacher, too?"  Lane asked.

Paris nodded.  "Literature at Chilton."

"That's cool.  Well, it was nice meeting you both."

"Same here."  Tristan echoed, and the four parted ways.

A/N – Sorry it's short, but like I said, this chapter was mainly to fix my goof in Chapter 3.  I'm gonna start working on 5 now.