Chapter 2:
I was in the kitchen, having some breakfast after a restless night, when the phone started ringing. I got up from where I was seated and moved lazily into the next room to get the phone. I picked the receiver up from its cradle on the fifth ring, "Hello."
"Why aren't you here yet Dugrey? Didn't you get enough sleep by now?"
"Actually, come to think of it, no. But I was just about to leave, as soon as I'm finished with my breakfast."
"Well, maybe you should leave it and come right now…"
"Why? Do you miss me?"
"Funny. But since you asked, Gilmore fell and hurt herself when she and Paris had another one of their arguments."
"Is she okay?"
"Yeah, I think so. Sharon went with her to the nurse's room."
"You introduced her to Sharon?"
"I said I'd take care of it…"
"I know, I just wasn't sure that she'd open up and let someone in. At least not one of Chilton's students."
"It took her a couple of days but she eventually opened up and let her in, they have a lot in common, and I guess that she could see it too."
"What were she and Paris arguing about this time?"
"Does it matter? You know Paris, she always finds something to argue about."
"Well, she's on the debate team, she has to practice…"
He chuckled, "True."
"Look, I'm gonna hang up now and head to Chilton."
"See you in a bit…" I smiled to myself as I hung up.
I put the phone back in its place, took my car keys from where I left them last and left the house.
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Five minutes later I was on Chilton's grounds.
"Hey." I found Josh and Jane sitting together on a bench, just talking.
"Long time no see…" Jane smiled as she turned to look me.
"Hey Jane, how are you?"
"I'm fine." Her smile grew even wider, "How are you?"
I was just about to answer when Josh interjected, "I don't think he really wants to stay around and chat with you at the moment, I already told him about Gilmore and I'm pretty sure he wants to go find her."
"Oh, go ahead. She's with Sharon at the nurse's room."
"I know." I started walking away but then a thought crossed my mind, "Hey Josh did you-"
"I have eyes Tristan, he didn't have to tell me anything." Jane cut me off.
"I think I'm gonna go now…"
As I turned away from them and started walking in the main building's direction I heard from behind me, "Go easy on her Tristan, I think she's had enough for today."
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"I think you sprained your ankle dear." I heard, what I assumed to be, the nurse's voice speaking to Rory, "How did this happen anyway?"
"I slipped." She answered quietly, "That's all."
I opened the door quietly and stepped into the room to find her seated on a chair, holding her sore ankle, "Hey, how are you?" I asked.
She looked up at me, annoyance in her eyes, "What are you doing here?" she asked coldly, avoiding eye contact.
"Do you need any help?" I asked, ignoring her question.
"Actually, Sharon's gonna help me so I think I'll manage."
Sharon finally spoke, "Not exactly," she gave Rory an apologizing smile "I'm sorry to ditch you like this but I really have to get to my next class. I have math and you know that it's not my strongest subject…"
"Then how exactly am I supposed to get home? My mom's working and I can't call her right now…"
"That's where I come in." She turned to look at me, her eyes meeting mine. I tried to smile but it didn't quite work.
"I'll be fine, you can go ahead," She told Sharon, still looking into my eyes, "I'll just jump all the way to my bus stop or something."
The nurse, who was quiet the whole time, finally spoke up, causing Rory to look in her direction, "I don't think that it's such a great idea."
"Why not?" Rory protested, "I'm an independent woman."
"Rory…" Her eyes turned to me again, "Just let me help you." I said carefully.
Her eye lingered on my figure for only a second before she turned to look at the nurse again, "Could you leave us alone for a few minutes?"
"No problem, I'll be back in a little while." She gave Rory a warm smile before she left, Sharon following her at a small distance. As soon as the door was shut she turned to look at me, fire in her eyes, "I thought I told you to stay away from me."
"You were angry. I wasn't sure that you really meant it." I tried to reason.
"Well, I did. Stay away from me."
"I'll just take you home and then you'll never hear from me again."
"I don't want your help, Tristan."
"But you do need it."
"Don't start with me, I'm not in the mood to argue with you today, this day is bad enough as it is." She pushed herself off the bed and accidentally stepped on her sore leg, "Oh my god, that hurts." She closed her eyes at the painful feeling.
I came closer to her, "Are you okay?" I asked quietly.
She opened her eyes, "Just stay away." She put her arm in between us, keeping me at a safe distance.
"Come on, Rory, let me help." I'm not really sure why on earth I did it but I took her hand in mine.
Staring at me coldly, she pulled it away; "I don't need your help!" She stepped on her sore leg again, and cramped as she felt the pain go through her.
Not wanting to annoy her but feeling the need to help I came closer and lifted her up to a sitting position on the bed, "At this rate you're gonna hurt yourself."
"Don't touch me, okay?!" she was getting aggravated by the moment.
"Your leg is swelling…" I touched it gently, "Does it hurt?"
"Tristan, I don't want you to-" she stopped as soon as our eyes met. I stared at her, not letting her avoid the eye contact this time, "I don't want you to-" she tried again, but froze as soon as she felt my touch. I caressed her cheek gently, not being able to stop myself anymore, and knowing that this would surely lead to trouble. Still not breaking the eye contact I moved even closer to her, "I'm not gonna hurt you, Rory…" I whispered close to her ear. As I heard her gasp at my words I couldn't take it anymore, she was driving me crazy and I had to do something about it. With her still frozen, I closed the remaining distance between us and gave her a soft kiss on the lips, still no movement from her, I leaned down again and gave her a lingering kiss, when I felt her hand touching the back of my neck there was no stopping me, she let me in, letting me show her what I've wanted all along, letting me show her what I needed so badly. And she kissed me back, as if she needed the same thing. It felt as if my legs couldn't carry me anymore. I leaned on the bed, letting my hands carry my weight, when I felt her hand playing with my hair I couldn't help but kiss her even harder, my hand creped up, as if of its own will, to her delicate cheek. It was the best sensation I've ever felt. But it was shattered when she pushed me away, "Why do you always have to do that?!" anger was visible in her eyes.
"I'm sorry," it was obvious that it didn't mean anything to her, "I didn't mean to-"
"Look, I don't care okay?" she cut me off, "I just want to get home, do you have a cell phone so that I could call my mom?"
"I thought that you couldn't call your mom…"
"Tristan, don't start with me. Do you have a cell phone?"
"You're not gonna do this…" there was no way that I would have let her ignore this.
"Do what?"
"We have to talk about what just happened."
"There's nothing to talk about, you just had to show me how manly you are…"
"You kissed me back, Rory. That has to mean something."
"It means that you're a good kisser, that's all. Do you have a phone or not!" she looked at me, annoyed.
"I'm a good kisser?" her statement meant that she liked my kiss…
"You are so frustrating."
"Come on, Rory… Don't tell me that you can't feel it."
"Feel what?"
"The chemistry between us…" I explained.
"There's nothing between us, okay?" her anger grew bigger, "Do you have a phone or not?"
"I'll take you home, Rory."
"I don't want you to take me home."
"Rory…"
"Where did that nurse go?"
"Just let me take you home."
"Why would you want to take me home?"
"Rory…" I was getting frustrated.
"Tristan…"she said, using the same tone as I did.
"You have two choices, either I take you home with your approval or I'm just gonna take you without it, either way I'm taking you home. But the choice is yours."
"I already told you that I don't need your help."
"Well, can you walk alone?"
"I'll manage."
"It'll be much easier if you just let me help you."
"I don't want your- "
"Well, I see that your boyfriend's here to help you, why don't you start walking to his car?" the nurse interrupted her words.
"He's not my-"
"Come on, you heard her. Let's go." I helped her to her feet.
"But I-"
"She's a little mad at me, "I spoke to the nurse, as if trying to explain Rory's behavior, "But she'll get over it eventually." When I saw that Rory was about to say something I turned to her and gently pushed her out of the room. "Have a nice day." I said to the nurse as I got out of the room myself.
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"Get in the car, Rory."
"No."
"I can get you into the car myself if you don't want to do it. It's your choice."
She glared at me for a moment, not saying a word, before she opened the car's door and took a seat in the passenger's seat.
"I should have tried that earlier." I said as I walked to the driver's side of the car and got in myself.
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"Was that so bad?" I asked her as I pulled in front of her house.
Without even looking at me she opened the door and said, "Have a nice life."
I had to say something; things couldn't end just like that, "Wait." She turned to look at me, her eyes empty, "Aren't you gonna invite me in?" I smiled at her mischievously.
"Asshole." She climbed out of the car and started hobbling to her house.
"Do you need any help?" I raised my voice so that she could hear me.
"No." she yelled back, not turning to look at me, "Stay away!"
"You're probably gonna fall and then you'll blame me for it."
"No I won't, just go home."
When I saw that she had no intention of turning back I had to do something. I climbed out of the car myself, "I don't want to end things like this."
She seemed to slow down, "Like what?"
"Like you hating me…"
"I don't hate you. Now you can go home." She started moving faster.
"Rory…" I started walking slowly to where she was.
"What?!" she turned around to look at me, anger in her eyes.
I searched my brain for something that would keep her from walking up the stairs and into her house and by doing so getting out of my life for good, "You still haven't told me about Dean." I shot quickly.
Her eyes seemed to sadden, "Because there's nothing to tell."
I came to stand in front of her, "Come on…" I pleaded.
"Now's not the time."
"Why, because you're annoyed at me?"
"No. Because I need coffee." she stared at the ground.
"And if I get you coffee?"
"Look, I don't want to talk about it. With or without coffee."
"I thought that you believed in doing things that make you happy."
"Well, sometimes it doesn't work that way…"
"You're afraid that he'll get hurt."
"I don't want to hurt him, I really care about him."
"But you don't love him."
"No, that's not it. I love him."
"But you're not in love with him." I said.
"I'm not sure anymore, it's different. I still have to figure it out."
"I'm sorry."
Her expression changed all of a sudden, "Could you explain to me how one moment you're completely evil and mean to me and the next you're all nice and sweet?"
I chuckled, "That's just who I am."
She smiled in response.
"I'm sorry for all those…" I paused for a moment, trying to find the right words, "Are we still friends?"
"I don't know, Tristan. You really hurt me today."
"Just give me one more chance…"
Being the amazing girl she is she gave me a smile, "It's the last one though…"
"Thank you." I smiled back at her.
"Yeah, sure." She looked at me for a second, "Come on, I owe you a cup of coffee and since I'm gonna get one for myself anyway, I might as well take you with me."
"Take me to where?"
"To Luke's."
"The famous Luke's…"
"He makes great coffee…" She reasoned.
"Lead the way…"
"Well, I was kind of hoping that you might be kind enough to drive us there." She gave me a smile.
"Right, your ankle. That would make sense."
"Oh, and just as a by the way sort of thing you shouldn't be too worried if by the time we get to Luke's everyone already knows you're here." She gave me another charming smile, "News travels fast around here."
"I'm news?"
"Could we do this later? I sort of want coffee right now."
"You know where the car is."
"Right." She started hobbling in the car's direction.
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"Rory, what are you doing here?" the man asked in concern, "And who are you?" his eyes turned cold as he looked at me.
Ignoring his words she smiled at him and said, "I'll have two coffees please."
With one last look at me he turned to look at her again, smiling, "Coming right up."
We stood there for a moment until she burst into laughter, "What?" I asked.
"You look so terrified. Don't worry, it's just Luke."
"Can we have that coffee to go though? I don't think he's very fond of me."
"Hey, Luke." He turned around to look at her, waiting for her to continue, "Can you make that coffee to go?"
"Sure, I'll bring it to you in a second." He smiled at her again.
We were now outside; she was sitting on some bench, staring at her cup of coffee while I was looking around, "Will you finally tell me about Dean?" I asked her while I came to where she sat and took a seat beside her.
She looked up for a moment, confusion in her eyes, "I can't tell you…"
"Why not?" she avoided my look and turned her look back to the cup in her hand.
She sighed and said quietly, "Because I don't know myself..."
"What do you mean?"
She only looked at me for a second before she said even more quietly, "I don't know what changed, I just know that the magic is gone and now it became this…" she quieted down for a moment, thinking of how to explain this to me. After she took another sip of her coffee she just looked at me and said, "It's different, and I don't think it's a good different."
"Okay, but I thought that you love him. I mean, if you love him I'm sure that you can work it out." I couldn't believe my words, I sounded like a girl.
"What is love, anyway?" her eyes were filled with pain.
"Rory…" what was she saying?
"I'm just not so sure anymore that I really know what love is."
I got up, what I was about to say was gonna earn me a look I really didn't want to get, "Then maybe you shouldn't be with him…" I said quietly.
"What do you mean?"
"I guess what I mean is that if you would have loved him you would have been sure that you know what love is."
"Look who's talking."
"Think about it for a second…" I said, trying to ignore the pain that her words caused.
"Why should I listen to you?"
"Rory, I never said that I know what love is. All I'm saying is that when you love someone, and by saying love someone I mean being in love with that person, you're supposed to know what love is."
She got up to throw her cup, "How would you know?"
"God, Rory, I never said that I do know. I already told you, you don't have to listen to me but that's what I think."
"So, what, you're just gonna come here and tell me that I don't love my boyfriend?"
"I'm not the one saying that I'm not sure what love is…"
"You're so annoying sometimes…"
"Why are you changing the subject, Rory?"
"What do you want me to say?" she raised her voice, sounding frustrated.
"What you want to."
"Fine, maybe I'm not in love with him." Realizing what she had just said she froze in her spot, staring painfully at the ground.
"I didn't mean to- " I started to say.
"Yeah, whatever." She brushed past me to walk away, her shoulder touching mine.
I grabbed her hand in mine and pulled her closer to me, "I'm sorry, okay?" she tried to push herself away but I didn't let go, "I didn't mean to, Rory." At the sound of my words she stopped fighting and let me hold her, her head dropping slowly to my shoulder. I pulled her closer to me and held her that way for a while; "Maybe you should talk to him about your feelings…" I said quietly, breaking the silence.
"I don't want to." She said quietly and moved both her hands to the back of my neck, making me turn my eyes to look at her. Noticing that her hair fell to her face and covered her eyes, I tucked the loose strand behind her ear. She looked up for a second, making eye contact, before she murmured a quiet 'thank you'. Not noticing that she was torturing me she bit her lip. Knowing that it was the wrong thing to but not being able take it anymore I let myself go, I bent my head to the side and brushed my lips against hers. As I opened my eyes I saw that her eyes were still closed, apparently misunderstanding her action's meaning, I kissed her softly again feeling more alive than ever. She pulled away from me, her eyes filled with anger, "Do you have to ruin everything? What's wrong with you?" She practically yelled.
"I'm sorry, I don't know why I-"
"It's the third time, do you really think I'm gonna believe you? I'm not stupid, you know. I know what you're trying to do and I thought that I've made it clear by now that I don't like you. I'm not gonna change my mind so you can go and find another girl to add to your conquests list." With that she started hobbling in the diner's direction.
"You're not a conquest, Rory." Did she really think that little of me?
She turned to look at me, "I don't know why I even tried to be your friend. I should have remembered that you're the mighty Tristan Dugrey, You don't have any female friends." She turned around again and hobbled back to the diner, disappearing behind the door, to a place where she would be 'safe'.
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"So why didn't you follow her?" Josh asked.
"You know how Rory is, it would have made things worse."
"But you wanted to, Right?"
"Yeah."
"Why'd you kiss her in the first place? I thought that you don't even care about her."
"I'm not going into this with you now."
"Just call her and apologize…"
"I can't. She won't speak to me."
"Why not?" I heard Jane's voice coming from behind.
"Because it's not the first time that it's happened…"
"And she's mad that, as a friend, you tried something."
"She's so blind." I said quietly.
"Why, because she can't see it? Look at how you've been acting around her, moving from one girl to another without even blinking. She got just the impression you wanted her to, she thinks it's who you are. She doesn't get it that you're only doing this to make her jealous…" she smiled lightly.
"I'm not trying to make her jealous."
"You're always making out with your 'girlfriends' by her locker…" Josh stated.
Jane laughed at his words.
"What?" I asked her.
"Just write her a letter that explains your actions, I'll make sure that she'll read it." She gave me another smile, "But don't make up excuses, tell her the truth."
"I don't know. We'll see." I looked at my watch, "I should go home. It's been a long day and I'm tired."
"Okay, "Jane said, "I guess I'll see you tomorrow."
"Yeah… I think I'm not gonna come to Chilton this week anymore." I turned around and started walking in the door's direction.
"Write the letter." I heard Jane's voice.
Without turning around all I said was, "I will." Two minutes later I was in my car, driving the short distance to my house.
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It wasn't unusual to find my house empty, that's just how things usually were but at that moment I needed to feel that I came from a normal house and a normal family. As I walked into the house I found a note from my parents, informing me that they had to leave for France to do some business, it wasn't unusual as I already mentioned but this time it was for a week, I would probably won't even see them while I was there. It said that they would talk to me soon, HOW FUN. I threw my keys on the table at the entrance and went up to my room.
Dear Rory,
I know I'm the last person you want to hear from. But I figured that writing you this letter would be the easiest way for me to tell you how sorry I am for all the pain that I've caused you. I can promise you that I'll never bother you again.
I don't think any excuses would help here and that's why I've decided that you deserve to hear the truth. I really can't say why I was such a jerk to you since day one, but after I have been thinking about it I guess that it was probably the way you looked. You looked so scared and intimidated like a little girl and so, I acted like a little boy. You'll probably get this letter after I'm back at North Carolina but I just didn't want to end things as they are at the moment. I would have tried to approach you and talk to you about it but I seem to ruin things even more every time I come near you, hence, the letter. I guess all I'm saying is that I'm sorry and that I hope that you could find forgiveness in your heart.
Tristan Dugrey.
Before I had the chance to read it again and regret some of the things or change something I folded the paper and put it into an envelope. After I had sealed the envelope and wrote her name on it I put it on my nightstand, I would give it to Jane sometime.
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"Hey, how are you?" Josh asked me as he opened the door.
"I've been better."
He smiled, "Come in, Jane and Sharon are already here."
"In case you were planning on saying something I just want you to know that I don't want to dwell on the whole Rory thing…"
"I already warned them."
"Good." I smiled.
"Well, are you ever gonna come in?"
"Oh, right." I stepped into the house.
"I'm gonna get something from the kitchen, the pizza is on the way and as you probably guessed Jane and Sharon are in the living room." With that said he turned around and walked into the kitchen, leaving me to close the door.
As I walked into the living room both girls looked up at me. "Hey, Tristan." Jane said and gave me a smile.
"How are you?" Sharon asked.
"Look, it's great to know that you care but I've already told you that there's no way that something would happen between us. And that's just how things are." I said to the two girls in front of me. For the last ten minutes we've been talking about the Rory situation and I was really getting frustrated. I was hoping that these words might get them off of my back and leave me alone.
"But she thinks you're okay now." Sharon protested.
"Yeah, that's what you think. When was the last time you spoke to her about me?"
"I don't know, a couple of days ago, I think…"
"She hates me!" I said aloud, frustrated.
"Did you write her the letter?" Jane asked.
"Yeah…"
"So give it to me."
"I don't have it right here with me."
"Why not?"
"I'm gonna give to you the day I'm leaving."
"Why can't you just tell her?" Sharon asked.
"I thought that this was supposed to be a night of fun," I turned to Sharon, "I don't want to talk about her anymore. Let's just all face it- Rory and I will never get along no matter what, and as much as I hate it I don't think that there's something I can do that might change her mind."
"You should really-" Sharon started.
"I already told you that I don't want to talk about her." I cut her off.
"I've got coffee." Josh announced as he walked into the room.
"Do you also have alcohol or a gun?" I asked and looked at him, it was obvious that the three of them had planned this.
"Tristan…" Jane looked at me a bit worried.
Suddenly the doorbell rang, "I guess the pizza's here." Josh said, "Hey, Tristan, I need you to help me with something for a moment." He turned to leave, "Come on."
"What about the door?" I asked.
He turned to look at me, "Jane will get it." He then turned to look at Jane with a questioning look, "Right?" he asked her.
"Yeah, sure. Go ahead, I'll take care of the pizza." She smiled.
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"What's so urgent that you couldn't even answer the door?" I asked him.
"I can't remember where I put the movie."
"And…"
"Jane's gonna kill me, and you know it."
"Fine. Where should I look?"
"Well, go to my room and look there while I'll be in the kitchen."
"Looking for the tape?"
"I'll be right back to help you." He pushed me into his room and shut the door behind him. I looked around the empty room for a second before I moved to his desk to see if the tape was there.
On the desk rested 'The golden moments of Chilton'. I took the book from where it was and sat on Josh' bed with the book in hand. I stared at the cover for a few moments before I opened the book and turned the pages until I reached the page I was looking for. I was still looking at the picture when I heard the door open up. "Come look at this picture." I said without looking up, assuming that it was Josh. "It's Rory and I…"
"What so special about that?" I heard her voice.
My head snapped up at the familiar voice, "What are you doing here?" I asked.
"Josh told me that this was the bathroom."
"No. I mean, here, in Josh' house…"
"Sharon called this afternoon and asked me to come. And since I didn't have anything better to do I came." She said simply.
"Right." I looked at her for a second, "Now I get it…"
"Get what?" we heard the lock turning, trapping us inside.
"I gave her a soft smile, "This."
"Oh no…" she looked at me for a moment, "Come on, don't do this to me. Open the door you guys." She said loud enough for them to hear.
"Not until you work things out between the two of you." we heard Jane's voice.
"This was your idea, wasn't it?" she turned to look at me.
"Oh no, you're not blaming me for this." I said.
"I knew I shouldn't have come."
"Let's just go to sleep. Take Josh' bed, " I said quietly as I got up from his bed, "And I'll take the chair." I moved to the chair's direction.
"I'm not tired."
"Then find something else to do. Read or something…"
She moved to Josh' bed and sat down, "Sounds like a good idea." She opened her purse and took out a book. With one final look at me she began to read.
I stared at her for a couple of minutes before asking, "How's your ankle?"
"Fine." She said without looking up from her book, "Hurts from time to time, but other than that I guess it's just fine."
"Good."
She lifted her head up, "That it hurts from time to time?"
"No. That it's fine."
"Well, then I guess it is good."
"Right."
Without saying another word she started reading again.
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We sat there in quiet for a long time, she was reading while I was staring at her, I couldn't stand the silence between us anymore and so, I started laughing, "What?" she looked up from her book only to see me laughing.
"Nothing." I said, while still laughing.
"Then why are you laughing?" she asked, getting a little agitated.
"Because I just thought about how pathetic this is…"
"It wasn't my idea."
"I wasn't blaming you. I don't do that…"
"And I do, right?" She put her book down.
"That's not what I meant?"
"Then what did you mean?"
"You're taking this the wrong way."
"Then show me the right one…"
"If you stop attacking me I might just do that."
"I'm not attacking you."
"Then why do I constantly feel the need to defend myself?"
"Well, maybe it's because you're an idiot."
"See? Attacking me…"
"Just tell me why you were laughing."
"Because I was just thinking that the two of us, you and me, can't have a nice conversation. We either fight or sit around in complete silence."
"That's not true."
"Do you remember any of our conversations that ended in a good way? And by saying that I mean without us fighting or arguing."
She paused for a moment to think about what I had just said, "Well, that's because you're always an asshole…"
"And you're just proving my point."
"You're the one who always gets on my nerves."
"And you're the one who's always lashing out on me."
"Well, what would you have done if someone kept kissing you?"
"For starters? I wouldn't have kissed them back."
"What can I say? I guess you're a good kisser."
"It takes two to kiss, Rory."
"But if you kept your hands to yourself this would never have happened."
"Well, I'm a guy, and you know what they say about guys…"
"What do they say about guys?"
"That they have no self control."
"So, what, you're just dropping the responsibility on me?"
"No."
"Then what are you doing?"
"I'm just saying that there's no one guilty person when it comes to that subject."
"Yes there is, and it's you."
"God, Rory…"
"What? Tristan…"
"Fine. If it makes you feel any better it was all my fault."
"I don't need any favors from you."
"Can't you see that I'm trying to end this before we both say something we might regret saying later?"
"I'm just saying the truth."
"And what is the truth, Rory?" I couldn't take it anymore "That you hate me, that you wish we never would have met?"
"No…"
"Then what is it?"
"I'm just saying what I feel, Tristan."
"And you feel that you hate me, right?"
"Stop it."
"Stop what, Rory?"
"Stop being this way. I never said that I hated you."
"Yes you have. Last year."
"But you know that I didn't mean it…"
"Then tell me, what do you feel, Rory?"
"I don't know."
"Do you hate me?"
"No."
"But you can't stand me, right?"
"Why are you doing this?"
"Doing what?"
"Trying to make me say things that you know I'll regret saying later."
"Look, maybe we should both shut up."
"So, what, avoiding this is your answer?"
"No."
"I don't hate you, Tristan."
"Well, I don't hate you either."
"And I guess that you're right about us being weird that way…"
"What way?" I lost her there.
"You're right that we're weird in the whole communicating area."
"Couldn't we just forget about it?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because I can't just ignore it."
"Then, what, we're just gonna leave it this way?"
"I guess so…"
"Because it's easier for you that way?"
"Tristan, I-"
"No. I get it, Rory, it's your way of dealing with things." I cut her off.
"You're such an asshole."
"Go ahead, say that to yourself."
"Yeah… I think I'd better get back to reading before I'd really say something that I'd regret saying later." She picked up her book again and went back to reading, ignoring my presence.
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I woke up when I felt a hand brushing against my arm. In front of me was Rory, pulling a blanket over my body, her eyes were turned away from mine, "Wow, Mary, how nice of you to be so caring and loving…" why on earth did I say that?!
"I wish I could kill you sometimes."
"Well, no one's stopping you. Have you thought of a preferable way yet?"
She had given me an annoyed look before she hobbled to the door's direction and started banging on it, "If you don't open this door in the next ten minutes you'll find your friend dead tomorrow morning." She yelled.
"Don't even try, it won't work." I said.
"I'm serious, you know what I'm capable of when I'm annoyed."
"Rory," I said quietly, "Just go back to bed."
"Don't say I didn't warn you…" she stood there for a while, leaning on the door while she waited to hear the lock turn, but to no avail. As if giving up she sat down on the floor, using the door as support for her back, "I hate your friends."
"They're your friends too." I answered her.
"They were yours first."
"They were yours last…"
"You're so immature." She sighed and looked up to the ceiling, "Why me?" She whispered, exasperation in her voice.
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The next time I opened my eyes there was already light outside. My look turned to the bed, expecting to see her there but it was empty. A little worried I looked around, only to find her sleeping figure on the floor, right by the door. I couldn't help but smile to myself, she looked so peaceful, her beautiful face covered by her hair. I stood up and stretched my body, relieving my muscles from the pain of sleeping in a sitting position all night. Then, I moved slowly and quietly to where she was. I picked her up gently, being careful not to wake her up, and laid her on the bed. As I pulled the covers over her body she sighed and turned around to the side, causing her hair to fall to her face again. Not being able to resist the urge I tucked it gently behind her ear, she sighed again, a little smile escaping her lips. I moved back to my chair and took a seat, drifting back to sleep. Her face was the last thing I saw before I fell back to sleep.
When I opened my eyes the next time the room was empty. As I stood up I noticed that the door was wide open, I walked out of Josh' room in the living room's direction. As I was about to walk in I spotted Rory sitting on one of the couches, reading again, I stared at her for a moment, "Where are they?" I asked quietly.
"I don't know." she answered, not bothering to look at me.
"I'm sorry. I had no idea what they had in mind."
"Fine." She said, her eyes never leaving the book.
"And I'm also sorry for-"
"I don't care anymore." She cut me off, "I gave you a chance and you blew it."
"Right. I know that." She just kept reading, ignoring my presence, "How did you sleep?" I tried again.
She finally put her book down, "Why do you even ask? It's not like you care." Her eyes were flaming with anger.
"Sorry for asking." I said, a little taken aback.
"Whatever." She opened her book and started reading again.
"Whatever…" I turned the other way and left the room, frustrated.
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