I'm BBBAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKK!!!!! 51 REVIEWS!!!!!! You guys are amazing. I'm truly touched. I am. Just 49 more to go before I hit 100! I'm so happy. (Don't worry, I won't sing this time!)
I know you want a trory, but I'm going to wait and see where the story leads me. You have to admit that the "Gilmore Girls" section of fanfiction.net is largely populated by trories, and the writing doesn't get easier when there are constant begs for a trory. Originally, this story was going to have Rory married to Dean, but I've realized that it really isn't realistic to have Rory married to her first boyfriend. I know it happens, some of your parents were probably high school sweethearts, but it's a little to cliché for "Gilmore Girls." My guess is that Rory will end up with someone she hasn't even met yet. Or maybe it's the person you least expect. Someone like Brad. (That would certainly be scary!) Now this may end up a trory, but trust me, you may end up loving Mark more than Rory does. Tanya (Javalass) said she hoped Mark didn't get hurt, and I have to say I agree (of course I am writing the fan fiction in the first place, but…). Give Mark a chance. He's a really great guy!
Some corrections. First of all, the annoying, old-Tristan-like boy at the bookstore is Jeremy; the "dad" is Mark. I was originally going to name the dad Jeremy, and I wrote the entire chapter that way, but then I realized that I'd already used the name Jeremy. Another correction would be the Peace Corps. I wrote it wrong. I don't know whether I'll be bringing it up again, but if I do I'm warning you not to take anything I say about it to heart. Half of it is probably wrong.
(Side note on Mark: picture Brad Pitt with Tristan's quick tongue, Dean's caring heart, and Jess' (no adjective for this one) love of books. No clue what Brad Pitt looks like? What planet are you from?)
ON WITH THE FIC!!!!!!!!
^_^
Once Tristan had snapped Rory out of her daydream they agreed not to tell Coral that Tristan was her father until Tristan decided whether he really wanted to be involved. It was also agreed that Tristan would come to Stars Hollow to visit and get to know his daughter.
Mark was a little slow to agree, but then again, he'd helped to raise Coral, and he was as much her father as Rory was her mother, even if their chromosomes didn't match up.
Now Coral, on the other hand, had been thrilled to hear Tristan was coming. She'd taken to him immediately, and was excited. When he spoke to her on the phone the night before he came he told her he had a book she might like, and that he would bring it with him. She couldn't wait.
When the doorbell rang at about one thirty everyone slowed down. As much as she was looking forward to the visit, Coral was a bit nervous. She'd only met the man once, and only for a little while. Maybe he wasn't as nice as she had thought. Maybe he was a spy for the FBI who wanted to kill all the residents of Stars Hollow (she had a fairly active imagination).
Mark, who had been good friends with Tristan back in high school, had let his
insecurities kick in. What if Tristan
wanted to take his family away? When he
had last seen Tristan, nineteen years before, it had been common knowledge that
the guy was completely and totally infatuated with Rory Gilmore. What if that still held true?
Rory just wanted to get the visit over and done with. She hadn't been blind (or deaf) to Coral's constant chatter about Tristan lately, and she didn't want her daughter to be devastated if her brand new "friend" left her life as quickly as he'd entered it. Things were just to complicated in the real world. Why couldn't she just stumble back into that Disney movie Paris had once compared her life to?
Finally, Lorelai, who'd been visiting, opened the door. "G-d, you guys are just too slow! I could have beaten you to the door wearing a full body cast," she commented, swinging it open. "Tristan!" she enveloped him in a large hug. This was, of course, just a way to hide the fact that she was whispering threats into his ear, "you break my little girls' hearts again and you'll be hanging from a flagpole by your earlobes."
"Thank you for that warm welcoming," he whispered back.
"You're welcome."
"Hey Tristan," came the shy salutation from where Coral was standing behind her mother.
"Hey. Hola mon ami!" he greeted Mark with a warm bear hug, immediately relieving the room of much of its tension.
"Still mixing up those languages, I see."
"Hey, it's not my fault those crazy Europeans couldn't just agree on a language."
"Welcome back, Tristan," Rory said, hugging him as well.
"Ah, the human greeting card strikes again."
"Again?"
"Well, it sounded better than just saying 'the human greeting card strikes' and then nothing."
"Good point."
Coral watched the comfortable chitchat in awe. She'd been raised to banter with the best of them, but she'd never seen tongues this quick with a comeback.
Dinner was fun (mostly because Sookie cooked, rather than Lorelai), and after some time together everything went back to its usual comfort level. Everyone stayed up telling stories about high school, and having fun, but around one in the morning, Coral fell asleep on the couch. When Mark started to pick her up and carry her into her room Tristan stopped him.
"No, wait, I'll do that."
"You don't have to."
"I-I want to."
So Tristan carried her off to her bed. Once he had her tucked under the covers he turned out the light and walked back to the living room. At the door to her room, however, he paused and glanced back. He watched her for a little while, reveling in the fact that this beautiful little girl was his own.
"She likes you, you know." Rory had come up behind him.
"She has no reason to."
"Of course she does. You're her father."
"Yeah, but she doesn't know that."
"I think, subconsciously, she does." The two stood in a comfortable silence for a little while, before Rory turned back to the living room. "Come on, let's get you some blankets, I'm sorry we don't have anything more comfortable than a couch. We would have put you up at the inn, but it's being renovated, so there are only about three usable rooms and they were all full tonight, plus, Michel can get really annoying, and with the two of your egos something tells me you shouldn't be in the same building."
Tristan stared at her as she babbled. She was as beautiful as ever, if not more so. Her coffee brown hair was longer, her blue eyes bluer, and her posture even better than it had been when she was just sixteen. Back then he had been hopelessly in love with her. Well, maybe infatuated was a better word. Half the sophomore class had liked her, but none had even considered dating her. Dating someone below their social status? To the Chiltonites that was just wrong. But Tristan had tried, mainly because he knew she'd say no. Since his crush on Rory Tristan had fallen in love. Her name was Amanda, and she was back in New York. He hadn't lied to her about why he was coming. Rory on the other hand, Rory didn't know about Amanda. He planned to tell her soon. *Maybe tomorrow,* he thought to himself. *Yes, I'll tell her tomorrow.*
Rory looked back at Tristan. He looked happier than she remembered him. In high school he'd been the solemn popular guy who intentionally annoyed her and went through as many innuendos as he did girlfriends. The Tristan that stood in front of her now had a strong idea of what life was. The Tristan that had kissed her at Madeline's party twenty years before was just starting to learn what the word meant.
***Flashback…Madeline's Party, April (March?) 2001
Rory walked into the piano room, most likely in search of a quiet place to read. Instead, she found a forlorn Tristan sitting on the piano bench. "Oh, sorry," she said, hoping she wasn't intruding.
"No problem." She noted the sadness in his voice, hoping he wasn't to upset. Summer didn't deserve him.
"I'm sorry."
"About what?"
"About you and Summer."
"I don't want to talk about Summer."
"Ok. How'd you do on that biology test?"
"What?"
"The test. It was hard, wasn't it?"
"Yeah, it was hard."
"I got a B plus."
"What are you doing?"
"Talking about the test."
"Why?"
"Because you said you didn't want to talk about Summer."
"I don't"
"Ok, so I moved to biology. Sorry, did you want to talk about Spanish?"
Tristan paused. "You just loved it, didn't you?"
"Loved what?"
"Seeing me get nailed like that. Must have been a great moment." He was starting to get angry. He'd dealt with break-ups before, but he'd always been the dump-er, never the dump-ee. It was embarrassing. Especially in public.
"Not really."
"Please. You loved it, she loved it, everybody loved it."
"I did not love it."
"I really liked her too." What a lie. He had never "liked" Summer. She had just been a part of his little game. The game he'd been playing for years now.
"Yeah, I know."
"So, where's your boyfriend tonight?" Tristan asked, trying to get off the subject of the night's pitiful scene.
"He's…not my boyfriend anymore." It had still been somewhat weird for her to say that he was her boyfriend, and yet, here she was, telling Tristan of all people that she'd been dumped.
"Why not?"
"He didn't want to be." *HOW HUMILITATING!*
"Idiot." Why was Tristan being so nice?
Rory figured that they only polite thing to do was return the favor. "So's Summer."
"You think you'll get back together?" *Please no, please oh please, no.*
"He was pretty set in his decision."
"When did it happen?"
"Yesterday."
"Wow." They were quiet for a second, reflecting on their thoughts.
"It was our three month anniversary."
"That sucks."
"Yeah, it does suck. Do you think you guys will?"
"No, no. No, no, no, no, no."
"So no?"
"No. Hey, I'm sorry I gave you such a hard time for a while." *He is?*
"Oh, that's ok." That's when Tristan made the mistake of getting his hopes up?
"It is?"
"Well, no, but you're sad."
"Yeah, well, I am sorry."
"I accept your apology."
They paused again. It was somewhere between uncomfortable and comfortable. Why couldn't life always be like that?
"Oh man, it's a great party, huh?"
"Yeah, not bad. It gave me a chance to catch up on my reading."
Only Rory would read at a party. Only Rory was that special.
"You are very odd, you know that?" *And that's why I love you so much.*
"Thank you."
"You're welcome." That was when he leaned in to kiss her. Why, oh why, did he kiss her?
It was a sweet kiss. Nothing truly magical, but still one of the best that Tristan had ever experienced; and then she started crying. "I'm sorry, what did I do? Did I bite your lip or something?"
"No, it's not you," and then she was gone. She ran off, just a passing flash of lightning.
^_^
You like it? I like this chapter. There will be more Mark in the next chapter. Oh, and please don't hate me because of Amanda. You're gonna meet her too. Maybe not in the next chapter, but someday in the not too distant future.
Bess (www.geocities.com/besstofthebest.)
