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 10: Not a Fairy Tale History

Six years and three months ago

"Tristan!" His friend John Brewer came up to him and slapped his arm on his back. "Great party huh?"

Tristan forced a smile. "Yeah. Sure is kickin'…" The truth was it was anything but. He had only just arrived a few minutes ago and he was already trying hard not to yawn. To avoid further conversation about the cocktail party his father was hosting for a new deal closed, he chugged down the wine in his glass. The girl with John, Linda something-or-other looked at him slightly disgusted. He could have sworn that he had been with her in the past.

"Come on, man," John said. "We wanna introduce you to someone."

Tristan groaned inwardly. "Oh, I think I'll just stay here… Wait for that waiter to come around with more champagne. Did you try the canapés? They're de—"

"Tristan, shut up," John interrupted and pushed him along with him. "You'll like this person. Trust me, you'll really like her, if you know what I mean." He turned around a winked at him. Tristan tried to appear enthusiastic but felt completely the opposite. What was the opposite of enthusiastic? Bored? He thought. Yeah.

As they stopped in front of a group of people, he felt his spirits lighten up. In the centre, holding everyone's attention, was a beautiful brunette in a sexy black dress. She glanced over to him coyly and gave him a half-smile in return.

"Tristan meet Regina Brown, heiress to Brown and Johnson," John said. "Regina, this is Tristan Dugray, the son of the guy who's hosting this little shindig."

Tristan grinned. Okay, maybe tonight won't be so bad after all…

A few months later

"Baby," Regina draped herself over the book Tristan was reading. She gave him a wet kiss on the lips and pouted. "I'm bored. You know what I feel like?"

Tristan smiled and continued reading.

"Tristan!"

"What? I'm reading," Tristan said, brushing her long hair away from the page.

"Oh, baby, come on, you can't honestly tell me that book can hold your attention better than this…" And she reached over and started unbuttoning his shirt. Tristan moaned, now fully distracted from Tom Clancy, and returned her kiss with full force.

Three weeks later

"Shit!" Regina slammed the door shut behind her.

Tristan looked up from the papers he had been going through. "Bad day at work?"

"This is no joke, Tristan." Her usually sexy pout was in a thin pissed-off-looking line.

"What? What? How about we make some pasta and eat in bed…" Tristan said. "Maybe you'll forget."

"No Tristan," Regina said. She sat down. "Could you please get your mind off of work for a minute. This is important."

"Okay. This is me paying attention to you and your important business," Tristan sighed and placed his pencil on the table.

"I'm pregnant."

"What?" Tristan thought he had misheard.

"You heard me. I. Am. Pregnant."

"I heard you the first time. How could this happen? We used protection! We did everything right—"

"Well obviously not, or else I wouldn't be in this predicament right now," Regina sighed, seemingly annoyed by his behaviour. "What do we do?"

Tristan ran his hand through his hair. He was still in shock and could only think of one solution. "We'll get married."

"What?!"

"Yes, its only right," Tristan said.

"You know, there are other solutions…"

"No," Tristan said firmly. "I'll be here for you, I promise. We'll go through this together. Besides, my parents and your parents would be pissed off as hell if we were still unmarried with a baby."

"Tristan, I'm not—I wasn't talking about marriage… I was talking about ab—"

Tristan shook his head firmly. "Maybe for other couples. Maybe for you. But this isn't just about you. I helped make this baby, and I want you to please have it. For my sake. For our sake."

"You know how pissed my father will be with you when he finds out?"

"Let him find out!" Tristan exclaimed. "But let him find out about our marriage first… Please, Reggie."

Regina looked into his eyes, and sighed. Originally, she had wanted to slap him for being so Mr. Perfectly-nice-and-logical-even-though-he-caused-the-damn-problem, but she couldn't help herself. She started to smile. "Okay."

Those were the good days, Tristan thought. Too bad they didn't last.