AN- Once again, just reminding you no pairings have been established…

Unfortunately, the rest of Rory and Tristan's evening didn't go without event. At one point, Paris Gellar had come over to the pair, another girl, slightly younger than Rory and Paris, in tow.

"This is Hannah," Paris stated simply, pointing to the girl. "I'm Hannah's mentor." Paris laughed. "Isn't that ironic? That someone as mentally unstable as me being a mentor?"

Rory smiled, shaking Hannah's hand. "I'm Rory Gilmore, a friend of Paris's from high school. And this is Tristan DuGrey."

Tristan had extended his hand to Hannah, but she stared at it in disgust, not shaking it. "I know who he is."

Tristan frowned. "Beg your pardon? I'm pretty sure I haven't met you."

"Not me, per se. But I do believe you have met my sister. Sarah Lee Henderson? Remember her?"

Tristan thought for a minute before nodding. "Oh, yeah. So she'd be a…sophomore in college now, right? How's she doing?"

"I don't see how that's any of your business." Hannah glared at him.

Rory frowned. "Whoa. What's going on? Tristan…"

Hannah stared at her. "Are you even aware of what your boyfriend's done to other girls?"

"Callie, can I talk to you for a few minutes?"

Callie looked up from the magazine she was reading when Lane appeared in the kitchen doorway. "Oh, uh, sure. What did you want to talk about?"

Lane sighed, sitting down in the chair next to Callie. "Well. Rory. And Jess. And you. Because Rory seemed pretty upset the other day and-"

"I kissed Jess."

"Oh, uh, wow. You know, I was expecting you to say a lot of things. Everything from you're using Rory for some exposé about the life of a small town teen princess, which, let me tell you, wouldn't make much of a story, to you're a princess yourself from England or something because you were secretly married to Prince William, which doesn't really make sense because that doesn't show why you-" Lane took a deep breath before starting over. "What I'm trying to say is I never expected that. I thought you were Rory's friend."

Callie winced. "I am."

"Well, I'd hate to have a friend like you."

"Uh, what exactly has my boyfriend done?" Rory asked, more to humor the younger girl than anything else.

"Lets see. He sleeps around." Hannah made a show of counting off Tristan's bad qualities on her hands. "He doesn't commit. He got my sister pregnant. He-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. What did you just say?" Tristan stared at Hannah, an apprehensive look on his face.

"You heard me. And don't pretend like you didn't know." Hannah glared at him.

Tristan shook his head, running a hand through his hair. "No, I didn't. Are you sure? Because, I mean, your sister…"

"My sister didn't sleep around."

Tristan winced. "Uh, what happened? Did she have the baby? Does she have it now?"

"Well, Tristan, my sister became very depressed when she was pregnant. She had the baby- a little girl named Grace Isabella. When Gracie was three weeks old, Sarah killed herself."

Rory gasped, covering her mouth. Tristan frowned. "Whoa. What?"

Hannah nodded. "Yeah, you're responsible for my sister's death."

"Um, Lane, I don't have to deal with this right now. Because believe it or not, Rory is my friend. I made a mistake. I'm sure you've done the same. And I feel bad. Do you think I didn't hate myself afterward?" Callie ran a hand through her long hair, biting her lip to keep from crying. "Do you think I didn't want to take back everything I had done?"

Lane sighed, glancing at Callie. "I'm sorry. I guess I went overboard." She groaned, sinking her head down onto the table. "I guess it hit a little too close to home."

"Huh?"

"Senior year. I kissed Dean before he and Rory broke up. Rory never found out, thank God. I felt so bad."

Callie stared at Lane for a minute before she started to laugh. Lane looked at her oddly, then started to laugh as well. "Well, we share one thing."

"We're both terrible friends."

"Responsible? Hannah, I know you're upset about your sister's death, but to blame Tristan-" Rory sighed, glancing at Paris for help. Paris, however, just stood there, too stunned by the development.

Tristan sighed. "Hannah, if I had known, I swear to God, I would've helped." He bit his lip. "How old is Grace now?"

"Eleven months." Hannah frowned. "I don't believe you, though. That you didn't know about her."

Tristan shook his head. "I really didn't. Sarah never told me." He frowned. "I don't want to sound rude but are you sure she's mine?"

Hannah's eyes widened. "Yeah, I'm sure. She's got your eyes. She has Sarah's hair so…" Hannah trailed off. "Listen, I don't trust you now, but we can't afford a lawsuit against the DuGreys. I'll give you my home phone number so if you ever want to see Grace, we can set something up." She scribbled her number on a napkin, and handed it to Tristan. "Not that I think you actually care enough to call."

Jess stared at Callie and Lane from the kitchen entrance, intrigued. Just a moment ago, Lane had looked ready to murder Callie. Now the two were laughing as if old friends. He walked into the room, hoping the two weren't planning his murder or doing something equally as scary.

"What are you doing?" Lane's tone was slightly suspicious, but not nearly as bad as it was when she usually talked to him.

"Getting something to drink." He pulled a beer out of the fridge. "Want one?"

Callie quickly shook her head, which Jess had expected, but Lane nodded. "Yeah, sure. Is there any Heineken in there?"

Jess stared at her. "Next you're gonna be swearing like a sailor."

Lane shrugged. "Maybe. Depends on whether or not I get drunk."

"Whoa, that was weird."

After Hannah's little announcement, Tristan, Rory, and Paris had retreated to Tristan's old bedroom for some privacy.

Paris looked down at her hands. "I am so sorry, Tristan. When she asked if I'd introduce her to you guys, I thought she just thought you were hot or something."

Rory was quiet for a moment, and she looked at Tristan intensely. "Um, you made this Sarah girl out to sound a bit…promiscuous."

Tristan shook his head. "No, not Sarah. Sarah was almost as innocent as you were, Rory. Sarah was…" He trailed off. "Sarah was a year older than me, and really smart. She didn't get in on all those things the Chilton girls did. She was pure."

Paris glanced at Rory, and she shrugged. It seemed like Tristan had really liked this girl. "Um, what happened?"

"Summer happened."

"Huh? Weren't you already broken up with her?"

Tristan nodded. "Yeah. But then Summer came up to me at a party, said she wanted to get back together. I was about to tell her no, that I was with Sarah when she kissed me. And Sarah saw."

"Why didn't you try to explain what happened to Sarah?"

"I did. But she didn't believe me. She said I was still the player I had been a year before, that I didn't really care about her."

Callie watched Lane in amazement. The short Korean girl had managed to gulp down four Heinekens, and it was obvious she didn't drink much from the way she was swaying back and forth. "Like, I've always hated Jess," Lane said, her words slightly slurred.

Jess raised an eyebrow. "Thank you. You can have that engraved on your tombstone. Lane Kim: Number One Hater of Jess Mariano. I'm sure it would go over real well with the church."

Lane shot him a dirty look, grabbing another beer. "No, no, no. I have reason to hate him though. He's a loser. What he did…" She trailed off, taking a sip of the beer.

Callie shot Jess a look. "What did he do, Lane?"

Lane shrugged. "To Rory. Well, it was about halfway through senior year and one morning Rory comes over and tells me Jess is gone and I'm like, 'Why do you ca-"

"Okay, that's enough beer for you," Jess interrupted, grabbing Lane's can. "I'll make you some coffee. Maybe it will help you relax."

Lane frowned. "I don't want to relax. And why the hell would I listen to your advice?"

"Tris, not to sound annoying but what are you going to do about this? I mean, you just found out you have a kid."

Rory's voice was soothing, and Tristan couldn't be annoyed with her. Instead, he just let his head fall onto the hardwood surface of his desk, comforted by the coldness of it. "What am I supposed to do? It's obvious Hannah doesn't want me seeing Grace and I don't want to hurt that family any more than I already did."

"What do you mean by that? It's not your fault-"

"Yes it is, Rory. It's my fault. I got Sarah pregnant. I wasn't there for her. She got depressed. She killed herself. Because I got her pregnant, she killed herself."

"I get the deductive reasoning and all that, but the problem is, your premises aren't true." Tristan groaned, not bothering to lift his head. Rory sighed. "Do you want to see Grace?"

"Yeah. She's my daughter. Of course I want to see her."

"Then you should. Not tonight, though."

"Geez, you two, calm down. You're acting like Jess murdered Rory or something, and seeing as she's alive, I know he didn't." Callie glanced from Lane to Jess. "Just drop it for now, okay?"

Jess nodded. "Yeah. Okay, Callie. Sorry."

Lane nodded as well. "I guess I got carried away. Sorry, Callie."

Callie smiled. "Good. And you're both forgiven. Why don't we go watch a movie or something? You know, to take our minds off of everything."

Lane shrugged. "Sounds like a plan. Let me go to the bathroom before you start the movie." Standing up, she headed towards the bathroom.

Callie was picking the plates up off the table when Jess tapped her on the shoulder. Spinning around, she asked, "What?"

"Thank you," Jess said simply, smiling at her.

Callie shrugged. "No problem. Although I would like to know what you did to Rory, I don't want it in some drunken confession."

Jess nodded. "Seriously, though, thank you." He took her chin in his hand and raised her face until her eyes met his. He kissed her lightly on the lips, then left the room.

Callie grabbed onto the side of the counter for support, reeling from Jess's sudden action. "Shit," she murmured under her breath.

"Lorelai Gilmore! You look marvelous. I'm sure Tristan wouldn't mind if you danced one dance with my son, James."

Rory turned at the unfamiliar voice, and shrugging, shook her head. "Uh, he probably won't even notice I'm gone. Where's your son?" She and Tristan had decided to stay the length of the party, for it would look strange if they left a DuGrey party early.

"Oh, I'll show you." The lady led her over to a man who was turned away from Rory, talking to a group of people. "James, darling, I have you a new dancing partner."

The man spun around and Rory caught her breath. Austin. Her eyes darted around wildly. His mother was already gone, and the group of people Austin had been talking to were staring at her as if she had two heads. 'Oh, right. We're supposed to be dancing.'

Austin took her hand casually. "Care to dance?"

Rory frowned. If she said no, everyone would think she was crazy. She had volunteered to dance with him. "Okay." She tried not to wince as Austin led her out to the dance floor and wrapped his arms around her.

"I didn't expect to see you again."

"I hoped I'd never see you again." Rory stared at him. "You used me." Rory paused. "James?"

Austin shook his head. "My middle name's Austin. And I didn't use you. You were more than willing. Maybe we can have a repeat performance." He leered at her.


"I seriously doubt it." She paused, trying to change the subject. "Why don't you and Tristan get along?"

Austin shrugged. "I stole his girlfriend at the end of sophomore year."

Rory frowned. "Who?"

"Summer."

Rory's eyes widened, remembering the night. "At Madeline's party?"

"Correct. How do you remember that? Were you heartbroken that I wasn't single anymore?"

"Uh, no." Rory frowned, thinking of how hurt Tristan had seemed that night. And to think she had invited the guy who had caused that hurt back into their lives. "You're a bastard."

Austin raised an eyebrow. "I didn't know a girl as innocent as you could use words like that." His eyes roamed over her body. "Of course, you're not all that innocent."

Rory glared at him, pulling herself out of his arms. "Go to hell, Austin."

There was a traffic jam on the ride home from Hartford. Rory sat in the passenger's seat of Tristan's Porsche, and glancing over at him, she noticed he was drumming his fingers anxiously against the steering wheel. "What's wrong?"

Tristan glanced at her quickly, before peering through the dashboard at the long line of traffic in front of him. "Nothing. I just don't want to get stuck in Hartford all night."

Rory nodded, picking her book up off the floor. She opened it, and soon she was lost in the book.

"What are you reading?"

"The Scarlet Letter."

Tristan nodded, and after a moment, frowned. "You haven't read that yet? I would've thought you'd read that at like, fourteen."

Rory laughed. "I've read it. Many times. I'm just rereading it. You always notice something new each time you read something." She stopped talking as she noticed Tristan's gaze was focused on the road, and so was his concentration. "Uh, yeah, okay."

Callie sat in front of Rory's vanity mirror, brushing her hair. "Why aren't Rory and Tristan back yet?" Callie asked, her voice slightly worried.

"They probably ended up making out somewhere," Jess answered, his voice slightly disgruntled.

Callie glanced at Lane from the corner of her eye in time to see her eyes cloud over. "I don't think so," Callie said quickly. "Could they have gotten held up in traffic or something?" She ran the brush through her hair again.

"Six hundred and twelve," Jess said.

"Huh?"

"That's six hundred and twelve strokes since I started counting. Do you brush your hair when you're tense or something?"

Callie nodded. "Yeah. But it's weird. I'm not that tense." She sighed. "I just wish they were home. I have to talk to Tristan."

When Tristan walked into the Gilmore house, he was immediately accosted by Callie. "T., come here. I need to talk to you."

Tristan allowed her to pull him into Rory's room, which had been emptied upon Rory's arrival, before he commented. "Geez, Callie, rip off my arm. What's going on?"

Callie groaned. "I need to figure out what happened with Rory and Jess, before it's too late."

"Too late?" Tristan raised an eyebrow, knowing he wasn't going to like this.

Callie nodded quickly. "Yeah."

"Care to expound?"

Callie took a deep breath. "I think I'm falling for him."

Tristan squeezed his eyes shut. "God, Callie. You were only supposed to be talking to him so we could get some insight into the problems our friend is having with a guy she obviously still has feelings for."

Callie groaned. "Don't you think I know that? I feel awful as it is. That I hurt Rory by kissing him…"

Tristan sighed. "What do you suggest I do?"

Callie bit her lip. "Lane has some kind of adolescent school-girly crush on you. She knows what happened between them. Get her to trust you. Get her to tell you."

Tristan nodded. "Okay. I don't want to use her but-" He stopped as he heard the doorknob turning. "Shit," he whispered.

Callie looked at him, her eyes wide. 'Rory,' she mouthed. Tristan nodded, taking Callie into his arms and kissing her passionately.

"Tris, Callie, are you in- Oh, um, sorry." Rory stood in the doorway, agape, and seeming a little upset.

Callie jumped away from Tristan, as if surprised. "Oh my God, Rory! Um, that was just, uh…It was…"

Tristan shook his head. "No, Callie. We have to stop lying. Uh, Rory. We're, kind of together. We have been for a little over a month."

To say Rory was surprised was an understatement. After all of tonight's revelations, she couldn't deal with anymore drama. Collapsing on the couch next to Lane, she let out a groan. "I can not believe this is happening."

"What?"

Rory groaned. "I saw you, what, eight hours ago? Since then, I found out Louise is engaged to a septuagenarian, that Tristan was the product of some screwed up affair, that Tristan has a daughter, and that Tristan and Callie have been together, as in romantically, for more than a month."

Lane shook her head. "Tristan and Callie? That doesn't sound right."

"Yeah, well, it is. They told me themselves." Rory let out another groan. "Why can't my life be simple?"

Lane sighed, resting her head on the back of the couch. "I dunno, Rory…Tristan has a kid?"

"How much longer should we stay in here and pretend to make out?" Callie sat on Rory's bed uncomfortably, glancing at Tristan.

Tristan glanced at his watch and shrugged. "How's five minutes sound?"

Callie smiled. "Good to me." She watched Tristan closely for a minute, realizing he didn't seem like himself. "What happened at that party?"

Tristan frowned. "Move over." Callie obeyed and Tristan laid down on the bed, his mouth in the comforter. "IfoundoutIhaveadaughter."

"Uh, what?"

"I found out…I have a daughter, Callie. I didn't even know. Oh, and get this. Her mother, my ex, committed suicide."

Callie stared at him. "Wow. That's big. What are you gonna do?" She turned to him, her eyes concerned.

Tristan shook his head. "I don't know." He met her eyes. "I don't know what I'm gonna do."