Lane was nervous walking into the Dairy Twist, not because she was scared she'd ruin her figure after a bite of ice cream like most girls, but because she was with Tristan. Lately, he'd made her nervous.


Tristan turned to her, pointing to the menu board. "I'm getting a vanilla soft serve. What do you want?"

Lane smiled, glancing over the list. "You seem like a vanilla boy." She could've smacked herself. What had possessed her to say that?

Tristan laughed. "How'd you know that?"

Lane shrugged, trying to act nonchalant. "I don't know. I'm just a pretty good judge of…ice cream flavors."

Tristan smiled. "Anyone ever fool you?"

Lane nodded. "Rory."

"Rory? She's like an open book. Chunky Monkey all the way."

Lane smiled. "Yeah, but that's not a Rory-ish flavor. Would you have guessed that if you didn't know already?"

"No…what did you guess?"

"Chocolate cookie dough."

"Yeah, that does sound like Rory." Tristan laughed. "Know anyone else who likes that flavor?" he asked to humor her.

"Jess."

Tristan froze. "Seriously? That's weird. I would have thought he'd like something gross…like pina colada fudge swirl."

"Yep. It's one of the few things that makes me think he's human…Do they really make that?"

"No. I could use a few of those. Have any more?"

Lane nodded. "Yeah. Lets see… he acted almost human when he organized that party after Luke's uncle, Louis, died. And he suffered through The Fountainhead because Rory asked him to read it."

"So he is human…I never would have guessed."

"So this is the center of Stars Hollow? This is the most exciting part of the town?" Tristan looked at the gazebo in mock disgust.

Lane laughed. "Yeah, it is. You know the story behind Stars Hollow, right?"

"No."

Lane smiled, sitting down cross-legged on the floor inside the gazebo. "Then I'll tell. There was a pair of young lovers, who had been…"

Tristan wasn't interested in the story, at least not really. He watched Lane as she spoke, seemingly fascinated with the myth behind her town. Lovers…reunion…overjoyed…townspeople…sweet kiss. Tristan's gaze fell to Lane's lips as she said this. They looked soft. Tristan shook away the thought quickly. 'It's just your hormones, man. She's Rory's friend. You can't do this.'

Lane had fallen silent, and she was staring at Tristan as if he had two heads. "So what do you think?"

Tristan frowned, realizing he hadn't heard the question. "That's, uh, weird."

"Yeah, but do you think it could be true? That two people could have such a strong physical attraction to each other that they end up at the same place?"

He had to stop this. His gaze had fallen to her lips again, and as her tongue darted out nervously over her bottom lip, he looked away. "Physical attraction? Sure."

Lane smiled. "That's what I say, too. But Rory won't believe it. She says it's not logical. And I'm like, love isn't logical, and lust's definitely not. But you know Rory."

Tristan nodded, shifting uncomfortably. He couldn't look at Lane this way. She was Rory's friend. And he still liked Rory. He couldn't do this. Standing up quickly, he said, "We better get back to the Gilmore's before we're missed."


"Rory, can I ask you a question?" Callie asked hesitantly, worried Rory would hurl the dish she was washing at her.

"Shoot."

"Um, are you mad at me?"

Rory's jaw tensed and Callie frowned. This was not a good sign. "I wouldn't saw mad. No, not really. And not any more. Oh, and by the way, I'm happy for you."

Callie frowned. "About what?"

"Jess. I think he's just what you need." Rory held out a dish

Callie frowned, taking the dish and drying it. "Oh, so you know about that."

"Uh-huh. And at first I'll admit I was a little upset. But I get it now. You and Jess are perfect for each other."

Callie was beyond confused. "Um, okay."

Rory smiled, holding out another dish. "I just wish I had seen it sooner."

"So what are you going to call this in that paper of yours? A day with the guy I'd rather never see?" Jess kicked a stone as he walked.

Rory shrugged. "Maybe." She paused. "I talked to Callie."

"Oh?" Jess's voice sounded too casual.

"Yeah, I told her I thought you guys were perfect for each other." Rory paused as the two reached the bridge and she sat down on the ground to the side of it.

"Symbolism is rich." Jess smiled, sitting down next to her.

Rory frowned. "Excuse me?"

Jess shrugged. "You know what I mean. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure it out. You won't stand on the bridge, at least not with me."

"This surprises you?"

"No, not really." Jess laughed. "Okay, Rory, what do you want to talk about?"

Rory shrugged. "I don't know. I just figured this would look good for my paper. I thought maybe we could just sit here, not talk to each other, and watch ducks in the water."

"There aren't any ducks in the water."

"And you think you're good with symbolism?"

Jess rolled his eyes, standing up again. "I have a better idea." He held out his hand to Rory, and pulled her up. "But you'll have to cross the bridge."

Damn symbolism. That was all Rory had to say. She wasn't going to let Jess win. "Okay, so where do we go?" She asked, stepping onto the bridge.

Jess stared at her for a minute before smiling. "Just follow my lead." He walked to the middle of the bridge and paused.

Rory stared down at the wooden planks, wincing. "You wanted me to walk halfway across the bridge?"

Jess laughed, pulling off his shirt and kicking off his sneakers. "Just follow my lead, Rory."

Rory glared at him. "Please tell me this is just some sick joke."

Jess rolled his eyes. "Fine, Rory. Then I'll have to help you." Stepping toward her, he held out his hands and rested them against her flat stomach.

Rory's eyes closed at his touch. "Jess…"

Jess lifted her shirt over her head slowly, throwing it on the ground next to them. "What?" He quickly unbuttoned his pants, putting them in a pile with Rory's shirt.

"Don't." Her words contradicted her actions though. She was already working on the buttons to her jeans, and her eyes were roaming over Jess's sculpted body.

"Your words are empty," Jess said as Rory threw her jeans into the clothes pile. He smiled as Rory stepped into his arms. "Actions speak louder, Rory."

Rory shook her head. "No…we shouldn't-"

Jess smiled down at her. "Rory, you know there's nothing you'd like more than…a nice swim with me." His voice became teasing as he picked her up and flung her into the water.

"Jess!" Rory's scream was pleading, but she was already over the water. She splashed into the water and came up sputtering. "Jess!"

Jess jumped in, laughing at her tone. She was trying to be mad, he could tell. But she was also trying not to laugh. "What?"

Rory scraped her hair off her eyes, and laughing, she said, "I- I wasn't supposed to get wet."

Jess frowned. "What?"

Rory nodded. "I have to go to the DuGrey party tonight."

"DuGrey? Is that Tristan?" Jess tried to keep the harshness out of his voice.

"Yeah…well, his family. He's not on the best terms with them. So it's kind of important that we go and I just had my hair done and…" She laughed at the absurdity of the whole situation.

Jess smiled. "Oh God. I'm sorry, Rory. How about we get out and you can dry off and-"

Rory shook her head. "No, I need a break. Lets just swim."

Jess couldn't even begin to describe the pleasure he got from those simple words. To know she wasn't scared of him, that she didn't hate him… He treaded water silently as Rory swam circles around him. "Ever notice how relaxing the water is?"

Rory nodded. "I understand why you like this bridge so much. It's peaceful to watch the water."

"There are other reasons this bridge is my favorite place…in the world."

Rory blushed prettily, glancing down at her hands in the water. "That was a mistake, Jess. You made that clear. So did I."

Jess shrugged, glancing at her. "Maybe it wasn't."

"What? Clear? Yeah. I'd say the walking off part made that pretty obvious, wouldn't you?"

Rory's words stung him. "No. A mistake."

"Ah, Miss Gilmore. A pleasure to see you again." The eldest Mr. DuGrey, Tristan's gentle grandfather, kissed Rory's hand. "And you look absolutely smashing, as always. Tristan has marvelous taste."

Rory smiled, not bothering to correct his mistake. "It's wonderful to see you, too, Mr. DuGrey."

"Please, call me Janlan." Janlan smiled cordially, meeting his grandson's eyes. "This one is definitely a keeper, Tristan."

Tristan nodded. "I know, Grandfather. Rory's amazing." Tristan held Rory's eyes for a moment, and the two shared a secret smile.

Janlan nodded. "Well, I have guests to greet. I hope to run into you two later. If I don't, have a good time." Janlan nodded and turned and started to walk away.

Rory glanced up at Tristan once he was out of hearing distance. "So we're playing this game again?"

Tristan nodded, wrapping his arm loosely around Rory's waist. "Apparently."

Lane knocked on the Gilmore's door later that day, and she was surprised when Jess opened it. "What are you doing here?"

Jess smiled. "Thanks for the warm welcome, Miss Kim. I could ask you the same thing." He rolled his eyes, opening the door. "I was hanging out with Callie."

"Hanging out?" Lane raised an eyebrow. "I don't want to know your definition of those words."

Jess rolled his eyes. "Nothing NC-17, I assure you."

"That only happens in your dreams." Lane walked past him, into the house. "Where's Rory?"

"With Tristan at some family party." Jess frowned. "Are those two…together?"

"As in romantically? I doubt it. I don't know for sure though." Lane sighed. "Why are you still talking to me?"

Jess shrugged. "Nothing better to do."

"You sure know how to compliment a girl. And couldn't you be practicing kama sutra with Callie?"

Jess rolled his eyes, walking away from the doorway entrance. "I never thought you had such a dirty mind."

"Rory, dah-ling, you look mah-vah-lous." Louise Grant had perfected the snotty accent her mother had months ago. She brushed a strand of her light hair out of her eyes slowly.

Rory laughed at Louise's actions. "You never were one to be subtle, Louise. What a big rock."

Louise smiled, tilting her head slightly as she looked at her ring. "Isn't it, though?"

Rory nodded. "Who's the lucky man?"

Louise laughed. "Ah. Grant Buchader. From the richest family in Hartford, with the one obvious exception." Louise glanced at Tristan, who looked away. "If only I could have gotten my claws into him."

Tristan rolled his eyes. "Going to take his last name, Louise, or were you hoping he'd take yours?"

"Grant Grant. Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?" Louise smiled. "No. I'll be a Grant-Buchader."

"Lovely choice." Rory smiled, happy for her high school friend. "Will we get to meet him?"

"Of course. He'll be back in a minute." Louise smiled, but the smile looked empty.

"Louise! Can I talk to you for a minute?" Rory caught up with her old friend in Tristan's drawing room, where Louise was staring absently out a window.

Louise jumped, turning around. "Oh. Sure." She frowned, wondering what Rory wanted.

Rory sat down on a plush leather couch, and Louise hesitantly sat down next to her. "You didn't seem to happy about your marriage plans."

Louise shrugged. "No one can control everything in their lives, can they?" Louise answered evasively.

Rory nodded. "But marriage? You can control that."

Louise shrugged. "Not me." She glanced down at her usually long nails, which were jagged now. She bit them when she was under a lot of stress, like now. "You've never been in debt, have you?"

Rory frowned. "Well, no. Not really. But you're rich. Debt to you's still rich to me."

Louise shook her head. "No, Rory, debt to me is when the stock market starts to crumble and Wall Street goes into turmoil." Even to her, her voice sounded oddly drained. "Debt is when your mother decides the only way to save the family finances are to be married off."

Rory frowned. "Your mother got remarried?"

Louise smiled at her friend's naiveté. "No, Rory. She's marrying me off to the highest bidder."

Rory's face paled. "Louise, that's awful! You aren't going to go through with it, are you?"

Louise sighed in frustration. "Rory, do you know how many times I've thought through this? Tried to find other ways? Countless, Rory. And there's no other way."

"That's so nineteenth C!"

"I know." Louise met Rory's eyes. "He's older though. He'll die soon enough."

Rory raised her eyebrows. "Please tell me you didn't just…"

Louise smiled, a real smile this time. "I'm low, but not that low, Rory. It is true, though. But I didn't mean it that way."

"How old is he?"

"Seventy-four."

"Oh."

To say the news of Louise's engagement shocked Rory was an understatement. She wandered around the halls of the DuGrey mansion aimlessly, her eyes not appearing to be focused on anything. Rory jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning around, she found Tristan. "God you scared me."

"Sorry." Tristan took in her stunned expression, and he realized she hadn't even heard him approaching. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know if I should tell you."

"About Louise's marriage?"

Rory met his eyes. "So you know?"

Tristan nodded. "The Hartford social circle's not exactly a quiet crowd. I heard within ten seconds of arriving here."

"That's an overstatement."

"No. It's not. I really did." Tristan ran a hand through his hair. "It sucks for her, I guess."

"What do you mean you guess? It's awful. Can you imagine marrying someone for reasons other than love, especially someone that old?"

Tristan shrugged. "Yeah."

"Name one reason."

"Lets see." Tristan made a show of counting off his reasons on his fingers. "A girl gets pregnant. The man has to marry her. Financial problems. Mergers. Oh! And you know the old saying, 'keep your friends close but your enemies closer'? That too."

"You're sick. You actually came up with reasons."

"I can't change my background, Rory. I was brought up a DuGrey."

Rory frowned. "Your parents wouldn't arrange a marriage for you, would they?"

Tristan nodded. "Yeah. They wanted me to have a trophy wife by the time I turn nineteen."

"That's just months away."

"Yeah." Tristan nodded again. "Well, they said they'd give me until spring break before they announce my fiancée."

Rory's jaw dropped. "That's less than four months away."

Tristan shrugged. "Yeah. I don't see what the big deal is. I marry some girl, we produce an heir, and we get divorced. That could all be done within a year."

"That's sick. Do people really do that?"

Tristan was quiet for a minute. "I'll tell you something, but you can't pass it around, okay? It would be really bad for the DuGrey image."

"Okay." Rory quickly agreed to this.

"My mother? She's not my mother. In fact, she's my father's fifth wife."

"What number was your biological mother?"

Tristan shook his head. "They were never married. Their families wanted it, my father accepted the idea, but my mom…" He smiled wistfully. "My mom wasn't that kind of person. She was eighteen when she had me. She had her whole life ahead of her. She wanted to be an artist, but an 'artsy freak' wouldn't be accepted into the DuGrey family. So she disappeared while she was pregnant."

Rory wasn't sure whether she should be happy or upset about this. "So…what happened?"

"She went to Hawaii. That's where I was born, in Oahu. I lived there with her until I was two, when a DuGrey private investigator found her. They got her on some kind of kidnapping charge, and said they wouldn't file if she gave me to them. She said no. They arrested her. I was sent to Hartford to live with my dad and his wife at the time, Melody."

"Oh my God. What happened to your mother?"

"She ended up winning her case. She's over in Hawaii." He paused. "I visited her during a vacation during military school."

Rory smiled, realizing how happy Tristan was talking about his mother. "How was that?"

"Nice." Tristan stiffened and Rory realized Mrs. Tiffany DuGrey was coming towards them, Tristan's stepmother.

"Lorelai! What a pleasure! It's been far to long since I last saw you."

Rory had never liked Mrs. DuGrey. It didn't seem like she meant what she said. "It's nice to see you, Mrs. DuGrey."

"Just look at you! What a figure! I'm sure that's the only reason this little hoodlum is dating you." Mrs. DuGrey glanced quickly at Tristan before turning back to Rory. "Really, dah-ling. You must tell me how you manage to stay in such a marvelous shape."

That was the other reason Rory didn't like her. For someone from a family held in such high regard, the woman had little class. "Thank you. But you look great yourself."

"Really?" Mrs. DuGrey glanced down at her stomach uncertainly. "I've been so self-conscious lately. Mr. DuGrey seems to pay more attention to the French maids than to me."

Tristan snickered and Rory glanced at him, trying to hide her smile. "I'm sure that's not true. It's not like you're over the hill or anything."

The jab went right over the young Mrs. DuGrey's head, of course. Rory could understand why Tristan and this woman got along so badly. The woman was just eight years older than him.