Author: Sunday Rain

Rating: PG-13

Spoilers: Second season.

Disclaimer: Don't own em.

Summary: Rory has to deal with her past, while Tristan has to deal with the present.

Better Days

Chapter 4: Renewing Acquaintances

"You're late…" Rory grumbled jokingly when she saw Tristan walk up the road to the building that housed the CNN New York office and where she had been waiting since the she left her desk at exactly five thirty.

Tristan didn't say anything until he went up the steps of the building before saying anything. "By five minutes!"

"You should never keep a woman waiting, Tristan, where are your manners?" Rory kept on chiding him. "Its freezing."

"I'm beginning to regret asking you to coffee…"

"Oh, no no no, you must never regret asking me to coffee. In fact, I insist that you ask me more often from now on. It is the proper Gilmore way to get on my good side."

"Since when was I ever on your bad side?"

"Sophomore year. Mary. Need I say more?"

"Oh, now, that makes me feel so old," Tristan whispered, amazed at the fact that ten years had passed since he was seventeen.

"Doesn't it?" Rory laughed, as the two headed down the road. "Where are we going?"

"My favourite coffee place. The guy who owns it was one of the first people I became friends with when I moved here seven years ago," Tristan informed her. "He should be one of the first people you meet here as well. Mark is like the brother I never had."

The two walked further in silence. Just as Rory turned to face him to inquire about something else, he tugged on her hand gently and led her into a store that judging by the sign above the glass door said simply Mark's Coffee.

The interior was subtly lit, but most of the light came from the wide floor-to-ceiling windows, giving the place a spacious feel. Soft music came from overhead and there were framed prints of fifties advertisements on the wall. Brown, maroon and crème colour couched lined the walls along with marble-topped circular coffee tables and wooden chairs. Comfortable and not overdone. The place seemed like the kind where there were devoted regulars but not many new people came.

The best part of it all was the aroma that wafted around the air inside the café, Rory decided. It was the heavenly smell of coffee. She followed Tristan to the marble-topped bar.

A man had his back turned away from them at the end of the bar, but he turned around as Tristan coughed loudly. "Yo, Mark!"

Mark, a man who looked a little older than Tristan, with dark hair and dancing green eyes and reminded Rory of Luke, smiled. "Tristan, bro, haven't seen you since two weeks ago! How was Germany?"

"Ahh, same old boring shit," Tristan replied, reaching over the counter to slap Mark on the back. "How's it going here?"

"Great, actually!" Mark replied. "Lucy moved in."

"Finally!"

Mark looked over at Rory, who was watching this exchange with a slight smile on her face. "And who is this lovely lady?"

"Ahh… you're clever," Rory replied, extending her hand out. "I'm Rory, the more sane part of Tristan's past. I just moved here, and Tristan here is introducing me to the finer part of New York City."

"Tristan's past, eh?" Mark said, taking her hand and shaking it. "I'm Mark, and you sound like you could be my new best friend. Any blackmail-worthy information about Blondie here?"

"Ahh, plenty," Rory said, playing along. "But first, you must provide me with the heavenly brown liquid made from beans that you serve here and that I love."

"Coffee addict," Tristan whispered, as an explanation.

"So you are my new best friend!" Mark exclaimed. "I like this girl already." He went to fill a massive mug of coffee.

"Why thank you," Rory replied. She leaned over the counter, impatient for her coffee. "I think I like you too, but only if you let me alone with coffee and not bother me about how unhealthy it is and provide me with endless amounts."

"Why should I?"

Rory laughed. "In my hometown of Stars Hollow, my mother's boyfriend, Luke, owns the diner and provides us with some of this holy goodness. Unfortunately he always goes on about how unhealthy it is for me, etcetera, etcetera." She paused to gulp down half of the mug that he handed her.

"Haha, a health freak, eh?" Mark said. "Well, you have nothing to fear, I'm somewhat of an addict myself."

Beside Rory, Tristan groaned.

"You see him, Rory?" Mark pointed, as he set another mug of something that was not anything like coffee in front of Tristan. "This man refuses to believe in the healing powers of the coffee bean."

"I like tea, is that a problem?" Tristan said, defensively, clutching his mug.

"Loohuuuser…" Rory murmured before taking another sip.

"Beg your pardon?" Tristan blinked, disbelieving. "I'm sorry, I just had a flashback to eighth grade. I could have sworn you just said 'Loohusuuser' but I'm sure that was just me; as I know you, Rory Gilmore, Ms. Harvard, Ms. Four-Point-Oh GPA, Ms. Chilton-Education and Ms. I-Work-For-CNN would not ever use such an unsophisticated word as that."

"Ahaha, you think you're so clever," Rory mocked.

"But I am…"

Mark smiled amused at the two. "Alright, I'm gonna go back to work and leave you two here to catch up. I'll be by later. Enjoy, and just holler if you need more coffee…"

"Will do!" Rory promised, she turned in her barstool to get more comfortable and be facing Tristan.

"So, Tristan… Its been so long."

"Yes, indeed it has," Tristan said. "I hate to ask this question, but how was Chilton after I left?"

Rory laughed. "To be honest, your departure didn't really leave a massive empty space in the halls of that hellhole."

"Ah, durnit, I'm hurt."

"Well, there were many people who didn't hesitate to fill the King-Of-Chilton spot that you leaving left open."

"And you?"

"Well, me? I just stayed me… I, um, I worked hard, I got my grades—I actually became friends with Paris, by the way, but we lost touch over the years—and I got into Harvard," Rory paused and smiled as she remembered one of the happiest days of her life. "And I just left without looking back."

"Good girl," Tristan said. "I hated that place."

Rory started in surprise. "But you were so popular and loved!"

"Well, evidently, not enough, because you just said no one gave a shit when I left… I was just there as gossip material."

"True," Rory admitted. "I can't deny it and lie."

"You shouldn't," Tristan said. "I know this might sound bizarre to you, but I was glad when I got pulled out."

"That was a stupid prank you did, I remember," Rory attempted to remember. "What was it?"

"Uhm, I went through this guy's father's safe…"

"Oh yeah. Yeah. Stupid."

"Well, I was young and…stupid," Tristan lamely defended.

"Anyway, how was life after Chilton?" Rory asked. "You know, I always regretted not keeping in touch with some people from Chilton. You, Paris and her two cronies and Henry were the only people there who treated me as…well, an actual existing being, despite the fact that you did piss me off. I should've kept in touch with those who attempted to make my life there not quite a living hell."

"Well, don't regret, I didn't keep in touch with anyone from Chilton, nor from the military school I went to," Tristan said. "I like to keep my past in the past. I did a lot of stupid things. In military school, it wasn't any different from Chilton, just that the people weren't rich. They didn't give a shit about the next guy, but atleast they were honest about it. That was slightly better. I had no 'image' and I was pretty much left alone for the next two years of my high school, and that, I realised were my two happiest years as a child."

"Military school…" Rory winced.

"Its not bad. I got great abs."

"Ugh, please."

"Well, since you said please…"

"My goodness, are we back to these innuendos?" Rory exclaimed.

"I'm sorry?" Tristan asked, confused by her comment. Then he remembered, and laughed. "I guess that's just the way I am…"

"Its nice to know you can depend on the fact that no matter how much time has passed, some things just never change."

"And on that note…" Tristan said. "You got into Harvard like you wanted to then?"

Rory nodded. "You had military school, I had Harvard as the happiest times of my life. I really learnt the meaning of independence. I'd lived my whole life sharing everything with my mom, and all of a sudden, I was living miles away and couldn't depend on her all the time. Very shocking, but it was a great experience. I loved it…" Her eyes got a faraway look in them, which amused Tristan and he coughed to bring her back to reality. "Oh, sorry. What about you? College and everything."

"I went to Yale, big surprise," Tristan said. "It was okay, majored in business administration, blahblahblah. I wanted to be a cook. But, the good son I was, I finished that route and have worked for the Dugray Group ever since."

"Seriously?" Rory said. "A cook?"

"Yeah, its fun, I love to cook…" Tristan smiled. "I found that calling in the first few months of college. I rock, and don't you look so surprised. I'll invite you sometime and feed you my killer Sunday roast."

"You must," Rory said, "Although, the adjective you used for that isn't very encouraging."

"You laugh now but if you only knew," Tristan said. "So where have you been these past few years?"

"Well, I got out of Harvard and took this internship at CNN in Atlanta for awhile before I did my masters. When I graduated two years ago from Cornell, my post graduate studies, a friend of mine who worked at CNN in the personnel department called me and asked if I was interested in a position they had vacant. I jumped right in; there was no hesitation."

"And you got to live your dream…" Tristan looked almost envious. A silence fell between them.

"Uhm, so…" Rory said, breaking the awkward silence. "Mary?"

"Pardon?"

"Mary Dugray?" Rory said. "She's cute, Tristan. You're very lucky to have a loving daughter… I never pegged you as the married-with-children type of person."

"Oooh, no no no," Tristan smiled ruefully. "Married? No. Definitely not. Unfortunately. But the whole fatherhood is in fact an amazing experience."

"Really?" Rory said, surprised. Tristan wasn't married? "Uhm, if you…uh, don't mind me asking?"

"Oh no, of course not," Tristan shrugged, knowing where the conversation was headed. "Its really not a big deal… I mean, it was, around five years ago, but you learn to live with it, you know? Especially since I have this… precious gift given to me that depends on me to be strong for her."

"Eh?" Rory said, not understanding his babble.

"Sorry," Tristan coughed and composed himself. "Mary is…I guess you could say, although it is very cliché, she's my little miracle, my purpose in life. If it weren't for her, I'd probably be wild and out of control. But I do everything for her."

"…And your wife? I mean, Mary's mom…?" Rory asked, she couldn't help it, she was naturally a curious person.

"Regina. Hrrm. Its been awhile since I've thought about her," Tristan admitted. "Well… To be honest the only other person who knows about this in its entirety is Mark. I feel kind of awkward just spilling it out to you, who I've just met again a few days ago."

"Come on, Tristan," Rory said. "It's been a long time, you and I were meant to be friends. We just never had the opportunity to, sadly."

"True, true," Tristan nodded his head in agreement.

Slowly, the two re-acquanted friends revealed their pasts to each other and caught up with one another's lives.

"Tristan?" Mark asked, stopping by after he refueled Rory's fourth cup that night. "Shouldn't you be—"

Tristan seemed to have read his mind. "Good God, you are right!" He lept from his chair. "I've been so engrossed in our conversation I can't believe I forgot Mary!"

"You have to pick her up?" Rory asked.

"Yeah, her play date ended around fifteen minutes ago." Tristan flipped open his mobile phone and quickly dialed a number commited to memory.

"Hello? Is this the Johnson residence?" Tristan asked. "Yes, may I please speak to Mrs. Johnson? Thank you. Hi, Trish, it's Tristan. I'm so sorry, I lost track of time… Is Mary okay? Well that's great, she and Jenny have always been such great friends—They want to have a sleepover? Well… I don't want to burden you with Mary. Are you sure? That sounds great, I'm sure Mary would love that. I'll pick her up tomorrow then, at around ten? Yeah, thanks Trish. Send my regards to Harry. Yes, contract is making great progress… And could you tell Mary that I will call here at around eight before she sleeps? Thanks again Trish. Bye!"

Hanging up, he turned to Mark and Rory who had been listening. "She's sleeping over there. I owe the Johnsons a lot. Whenever I'm so busy, they volunteer to take Mary in. I feel so guilty whenever I leave her."

"Well, little girls always need to be with their best friends," Rory said. She remembered Lane, her best friend in Stars Hollow.

"So, how's your catching up coming along?" Mark asked.

"Oh its been quite nice actually." Rory smiled in agreement with Tristan's comment. "I'm glad we did this."

"Me too."

"Anyway, where were we?" Rory asked.

"Oh, you were telling me about your horrible experience with the snake at the zoo in Fez."

"Ah!" Rory shuddered at the memory.

"Well, continue…" Mark urged.

"I don't think I want to."

"Come on, you've got an audience!"

"Oh fine," Rory said. "But never again will you remind me of this—either of you."

"Scouts honour," Mark replied. "Now get on with it!"

Laughing, Rory continued her tale.