Pairing: Tristan and Rory
Author's Note: Tristan never did become friends with the Duncan group or been sent away from Chilton. This is an alternate universe, and don't expect perfect grammatical essay or realistic happenings.
Summary: Tristan became a well-known bachelor in New York, CEO of his own firm, Dugray Corp. The story of how and when he fell in love with Rory Gilmore. Talking about his pain to 20/20 anchor, Barbara Walters, for the first time in ten years.
Shane and Mary went back to the audience section so that their father could finish the taping of the 20/20. There was three more segments left, and questions were getting more personal. At the same time, Shane and Mary were learning things about their mother and their parents love. After the death of their mother, Tristan rarely had talked about his wife, just an occassional bleep of information that they had clung to all these years. They knew that their mother, the love of their father's life, had to a great person. How could one woman, capture the mind, heart and soul of a man, even after a decade past her tragic death?
"Tristan, you had married your young wife, at what age?" Barbara asked.
"Ror, I love you." Tristan said. He had one arm around Rory's shoulder, and the other hand crossing her midriff to link her hands with his. They were leaning against an oak tree on a blanket, just enjoying the privacy and quietness - and Lorelai! They had went to an open concert performed by the Philadelphia Philharmonics where others like them sat on blankets and enjoyed the wonderful sound of music. The only sounds were of those from the orchestra and the soft rippling of the water fountain nearby. It was a beauty setting of the stars and the moon.
They had been dating for three years - seven months and twenty two days. But who was counting.
"I love you too, Tristan". She smiled up at him. With the moon casting a luminous light across Rory's face, her hair seemed darker, and her blue eyes, bluer than ever, and her cheek graced a slight flush to it. That moment, with clear love evident in her eyes, the way she smiled at him, they way she smelled of orange and vanilla mixed with coffee filled him with more love. It re-affirmed how much he loved her. It was a similar situation that made Tristan recognize that he did indeed love Rory, and told her so too. Well, blurted it out, actually.
There was no better time to do what he wanted to do. So he unlinked one of his hands from Rory and reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring box. He opened it and asked, "Rory. Marry me, please." Four simple words produced the greatest light he had ever seen - Rory's beautiful smile.
"Kiss me." Rory commanded, and reached one hand for Tristan's cheek and the other slung over his neck and kissed him with tender and love.
"Tristan?" Barbara interrupted his thoughts.
"Oh sorry. I proposed to Rory when we were twenty, still in school. After graduations we had gotten married in her home town, Stars Hollow." Tristan answered. He had remembered the day when he proposed to Rory.
"How did you propose to her?"
"I asked her at an open concert at the park when the Philadelphia Philharmonics were performing."
Tristan was still standoffish, he didn't like everyone wanting to know about his personal life. The life he once shared with Rory. A life with Rory, he had imagined he'd spend with for the rest of his life. But that dream was cut short when Rory was slowly eaten away by the tumor in her brain.
"Mr. and Mrs. Dugray. I know this is the result that you have been waiting for. Rory's headaches and migraines, aren't what they seem to be. We done several tests, as you remember, and had the best doctors to re-examine the tests. We all came to a final conclusion..." Dr. Levingstein said.
Tristan interrupted and asked, "Tell us. Please."
"Mrs. Dugray has a rare form of cancer, a tumor in her brain. It is placed where it has been growing, pushing onto her brain that causes these painful headaches." Explained the doctor. He motioned with his hand to a plastic model of the brain.
"So, chemotherapy, radiation, or surgery?" Tristan questioned. His own aunt had suffered from breast cancer and knew that those were the available modern medicine and technique provided.
"It...it isn't as easy as that..." Dr. Levingstein said.
"What do you mean?!" Tristan was getting angry and frustrated at the same time. Rory had not spoken a single word as of yet. She sat quietly, as her husband and her doctor argued their way through.
"The tumor is placed where it is hard to reach. One mistake, and Mrs. Dugray...well, there could be repercussion - blindness, melancholy...death."
"I thought surgeons where knife friendly. Wanting to cut open just about anyone!" Tristan roared.
"How long do I have?" Rory spoke for the first time.
"Babe, don't talk like that. I'll get another opinion. There has to be a way!" Tristan was about to cry. He had heard the defeat in Rory's voice.
"Six months at the most. Last checkup showed the the tumor is growing at an alarming rate."
"So, you all are giving up. Letting my wife die?! What about chemotherapy? Radiation?! My family and I donate so much money to this god-damn hospital and the Cancer research, and you have nothing?! Nothing?!" Tristan's heart felt as if it was to shatter. He had heard the most devastating news that Rory was to die. A timeline set down when she was to leave. Why was everyone giving up? There had to be a way! There had to be a way!
"I'm so sorry." The doctor left his own office quietly, leaving the two couple alone to discuss their future.
Tristan shook his head out of the daze. He could still remember the smell in the doctor's office, and the feeling of despair in his heart when he had heard the news. When the one year anniversary of Rory's death was near, Tristan donated a wing to the hospital naming it, Rory's Hope. It was specifically a place for cancer patients, who had to stay in the hospital because they were too weak to go home. He had donated large sums of money for the Cancer Foundations, hoping that one day someone would find a cure and no other spouse had to go through what he had gone through. He just wished there had been a cure when Rory was alive. He wanted to cry in pain, even after ten long years, he still loved his wife, his best friend, lover and soul mate. I love you, Rory. One day, we'll be together - I love you too much, not to.