A.N: Well, I don't see why I have to do this every chapter but I'll say it again: I don't own Gilmore Girls (Amy Sherman-Palladino and the WB does). I'd like to thank those who reviewed and to say that I hope you'll enjoy this chapter, though I won't blame you if you don't since I really hate that one. I'd love to hear what you think, you know, reviews are always welcomed…

Don't judge a book by its cover

Chapter 4:

"You took me out of the house for this?"

"Yes."

"On a Saturday morning?"

"Yes." I couldn't help but smile.

"At seven A.M?"

"For the third time, Rory, yes."

"Are you crazy?"

"But it's almost nine as you can see, besides, you've probably never even tried it."

"Why would you assume that?"

"Then tell me, Rory, have you ever tried doing this sort of thing?"

"I'm just not very good at it."

"Rory…"

"Yes, I tried it before."

"At the age of…"

"That's irrelevant."

"How old were you the last time you tried it?"

"Six. But I can remember every detail and I don't want to do it again."

"And you tried this with…"

"My mom."

"And tell me, Rory, is your mother any good at it?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"Just humor me and answer the question."

"No, my mom isn't good at it."

"Okay, it's settled then, we're doing this."

"But I already told you that I hate hiking, I got out of every hiking trip we ever had in school for that same reason."

"But I'm actually good at it, so now you're gonna give it another chance with me."

"I don't want to. Let's just go get coffee."

"And this time you might even like it. Maybe you'll even want to do it again…" I said, ignoring her words.

"You're delusional."

"Come on, just give it a try."

"I'm not in the mood to get dirty today."

"I'll help you."

"You're mean, you're gonna make fun of me every time I fall."

"Maybe, if you fall." She glared at me, "But I'm gonna help you, so you're not gonna fall."

"Let's just go and get some coffee…" she pleaded.

"All right, let me put it this way, we're gonna do this either way. You can try and enjoy it and you can just walk around mad at me all day long but you're gonna do it. And then, once we're finished, I'm gonna get you some coffee."

"That's not fair. You said in the car that this was going to be a day of fun, and so far you're only making this a day from hell."

"You're acting like a little child…"

"I demand compensation for having to do this."

"And I bet you already have something in mind."

"The general idea is that you won't like it."

"Fine, if you come with me right now I'll let you take me to a beauty salon once we're done here, and this way you'll get your revenge. But, you have to remember that you can only do this to me if you really don't enjoy doing the hiking thing." She looked at me, amazement in her eyes that I would come up with something like that, "And no, I really don't want to go to a place like that but I believe that you might like hiking.

"And I can put you through whatever torture I want?"

"As long as I get to keep some of my dignity, yes."

"Then you should prepare yourself for a nice manicure."

"Then from this I get that you're coming along…"

"Just one more thing."

"What?"

"You're paying for whatever I put you through, right?"

"Yeah."

"Okay then."

"Okay, we're going, right?"

"Only because I want to see you in an Avocado mask." She smiled mischievously my way.

"Funny girl. Let's go."

We've been walking for the past couple of hours, no one talking; I guess that we both just enjoyed the fresh air and the beautiful nature that surrounded us, the peacefulness of nature at its best. I guess there was no need for us to speak, "I thought that you were taking me on a short walk." She said, gasping for air, obviously tired from the walking.

"Stop complaining."

"But my feet hurt." She whined.

"Do you want me to carry you?" I asked, knowing the answer.

"Don't start acting all macho on me you big, big boy…"

"Then stop complaining like a little, spoilt girl."

"Look who's talking."

"Are you saying that I'm a little girl?"

"No, I'm saying that you're spoilt."

"I'm not the one between us worrying about not getting dirty."

"Well, that's because mommy and daddy will probably buy you new ones if you get it all dirty."

"You could always ask your grandparents to do the same."

"But I'm not spoilt…"

"Like I said, I'm not the one who's afraid of a little dirt on his clothes."

"We are so going to a beauty salon later."

"As long as there's some time left to do something that we both enjoy…"

"Are we there yet?" She stopped walking and sat on a random rock.

"Come on," I stepped her way and pulled her by the arm to stand up, "I have something to show you."

"Is it far?"

"No, it's right here." I started walking again, widening the gap between us, "But it could take us forever to get there because you're walking very slowly…" I said, loud enough for her to hear.

"Funny, Dugrey…"

"Come on, look at this…" I helped her up to the rock I was standing on so that she could see what was hiding behind the bushes.

"Oh my god," she gasped at what her eyes saw, "this view is amazing…"

We stood there without saying a word for a moment, admiring the view, "Okay, "I finally broke the silence, "are you happy now that you let me take you up here?"

"Yeah." She looked at me, a smile forming on her lips; "I guess you're saved from going to a beauty salon."

"And I thank you for that from the bottom of my heart."

"So I guess that now we can finally go and get some coffee." her voice barely heard, her eyes returning to the mesmerizing view.

"I thought that maybe we could-"

"Hey, you can see Stars Hollow from here." she said excitedly.

"Where?"

"There…" she pointed to the direction of a small, familiar town.

"I never really got the grand tour of your lovely town…"

"Well, " her eyes moved to look at me for a moment before moving back to take her surroundings, "Sometime…"

"Don't say sometime, if we don't decide when I'll never get that grand tour."

"Okay. So when do you want to do it?"

"How about tonight?"

"I don't know, I'm supposed to spend the evening with Dean."

I winched inwardly at her words, "Then just tell him that I'm only here until Sunday and that once I'm gone he'll have you all to himself."

"He doesn't even know that I'm with you this instant. Hell, he doesn't even know that you're around and that we've decided to give friendship another try."

"And why haven't you told him any of this?" I inquired.

"Because you know how he is when you're around. I don't want him to be around me all day long just because he doesn't trust me…"

"It's not you that he doesn't trust, it's me."

"And he has no reason to fear that something might happen."

"It's not his fault. I mean, it's obvious that you're completely in love with me…" I joked.

"Do you always have to ruin everything?" she said, laughter in her voice.

"Look, I'm not here for long and I just wanted to spend some time with you. That's all."

"Let me talk to him. We were going to have a movie night anyway so maybe you could join us."

"Are you sure that it's a good idea to put us in the same room together?"

"Just behave, and I believe that everything will be just fine."

"Why can't you just tell him that you want to spend this lovely evening with your friend? I don't get it."

"Lovely?"

"I couldn't find the right word."

"So you used the word 'lovely'?"

"Why can't you just tell him, Rory?"

"I already told you, I don't want to hurt him."

"And by staying with him you're only gonna hurt him more."

"Don't start with that again…"

"Rory, you're gonna end up hurting him even more."

"Tristan…"

"You know I'm right."

"I'm warning you…"

"Just tell him how you feel, I'm sure he'll understand."

"Look, it's not your problem. Just drop it."

"Fine. I'm gonna drop it. For now…"

"Okay then…"

"Do you want to go?"

"Actually, I want to stay here a little while longer. It's peaceful up here."

"I told you that you were going to like it."

"Yes, you did."

"Well, if tonight doesn't work out, would you like to maybe hang out on Sunday?"

"I'm not sure, I'll call you and we'll see."

"You don't have to if you don't want to…"

"It's not that, I just have to talk to Dean first."

"Are you going to let him be the one who decides if I get to see you again?"

"Tristan, I'm just gonna talk to him."

"Does that mean that I might even join you two tonight?"

"I'll call you and tell you."

"We better get going or we'll miss the movie."

"Why don't we just stay up here?"

"It's getting cold and you didn't bring anything warm to wear with you."

"Don't worry about me, I'll manage."

"Come on, take my sweatshirt." I opened the zipper, moving to take it off.

"No."

"You're gonna freeze to death."

"And if I take it you're gonna freeze to death…"

"But I'm a guy, it's expected of me."

"You're being all macho again…"

"There's no way I'm wearing this while you're freezing to death!"

"Then what made you think that I'll do the same?"

"Okay, so why don't we share it?"

"What do you mean, like cutting it in half or something?"

"No, you take one sleeve and I'll take the other."

"Actually, that's not such a bad idea."

"What can I say, I'm a genius…"

"Don't start with me, Dugrey."

"Come on…" I took her hand in mine and pulled her a little closer to me. She looked at me for a second, as if not realizing what I was doing. My eyes met hers as I slid her arm down one of the sleeves; her eyes were filled with amazement at my actions as I slid her other arm down the other sleeve. I pulled her a little closer, her cold arms touching my warmer ones. I was killing myself slowly, her body touching mine, the contact sending shivers down my spine. When she was close enough I closed the zipper shut, slowly, trapping her in the sweatshirt with me with no way to escape. When she still didn't say a word I guided her to turn around, she slid her arms out of the sleeves, her hands brushing my chest for just a moment before she turned around, her back touching my chest. Her arms stayed in front of her body, placed on her stomach as she resumed watching the view. I moved even closer to her, my arms coming to rest on hers, the only thing separating them was the fabric of the sweatshirt. We stayed that way, standing in silence and looking at the view, for about an hour. When her head dropped to my shoulder I couldn't help but smile, "Are you okay?" I asked quietly.

"Yeah, I'm just a little tired."

"So I've noticed."

"You're warm…" at the sound of those words coming out of her mouth I almost died. She let me be this close to her, not realizing what she was doing to me; I wanted to place a soft kiss on her neck that moment, I wanted to taste her neck, I wanted to turn her around so that I could taste her lips again. But then, as I remembered the way her lips tasted I could also remember all the times that I've kissed her, and all the pain that each and every kiss brought along. Though I really wanted to kiss her I decided that it wasn't worth it, kissing her again would just ruin everything, and this time for good. And so, I forced myself to ignore her words. I forced myself to stay still, "Is everything okay?" she asked me when I didn't say I word, turning her head to look at me.

"What?" I asked, confused.

"It's taking you a long time to answer."

"Yeah... Don't worry, everything's fine."

"Good." Her head dropped again to rest on my shoulder.

"Don't you want to sit down or something?" I asked, about ten minutes later.

"No. I'm comfortable."

"I thought that your feet hurt."

"But we're not walking now, are we?"

"I guess not."

"I really like this place."

"So I've noticed, since we've been looking at this view for more than an hour…"

"Really?" She asked, her eyes turning to look at me.

"Yeah."

"How'd you find this place, anyway?"

"By accident. I got lost the second time I was here and I was trying to find the way when I came across this view."

"You got lost?" I could hear laughter in her voice.

"I was fourteen."

"That's no excuse."

"What were you like when you were fourteen?" I asked teasingly.

"Who else knows about this place?" She asked, ignoring my words.

"Well, I don't know about other people, but from the ones I do know, no one else does. I guess that it's sort of my secret place or something…"

"And why'd you pick this mountain of all the mountains that you could have picked?"

"I'm not sure…"

"I guess that it was just luck."

"Yeah, I guess so."

"Well, it's nice of you to share your secret place with me."

"It's not like you're ever gonna come up here again. You hate hiking, right?"

She laughed at my words, "The only reason I won't come up here is the fact that you have to walk about two hours to get here."

"You mean, in your pace…"

"In any other normal person's pace."

"I thought that we've already established the fact that you're not normal..."

"You established that."

"And you don't agree with me?"

"Fine, I may not be normal but I think that it's for the best."

"But that's not the point."

"What is the point, then?"

"Well, the point is that you're not normal."

"Okay." I smiled at her words.

We stood there in silence for a few more minutes, her head on my shoulder, reminding me constantly how close she was, "Maybe we should start heading down…" I said quietly.

"Yeah, okay." she slid the zipper down, opening the sweatshirt, "After all, we might get lost…" she started laughing.

The way back to Stars Hollow took us about two hours, but we also sat down and had some coffee in this little place for a couple of hours. Having a relaxed conversation we failed to notice how quickly time passed by. By the time we actually got back to Stars Hollow it was already starting to get darker outside.

"Thank you for taking me up there." She said quietly.

"Next time I'll make sure that you bring something warm to wear."

"Am I supposed to read something in between the lines here?"

"Not at all. All I'm saying is that if you don't, Dean might get jealous…"

"When will next time be, anyway?"

"I really don't know. It's up to my father."

"Well, I'll miss having you around."

I couldn't help but smile, "I'm not leaving right now, you know, you still have me until tomorrow."

"You know what, just stay for movie night. I'll talk to Dean."

"What movies are we going to watch?"

"I'm not sure yet, I have to go to the video store for that."

"I'll come with you then."

"Okay, but I have to warn you, no guys' movies."

"And no chick flakes." I smiled mischievously.

"Be careful, Dugrey…"

"Are you threatening me, Gilmore?"

"I think I am."

"Stars Hollow's video store it is." I started the engine again.

A couple of minutes later I parked the car in front of Luke's place. She looked at me for a moment, picking her words carefully, "Could you stay in the car while I'm talking to Dean?"

"You'll go and talk to him and I'll go find us some good movies."

"Do you even know where the store is?"

"Well, before you're going to talk to Dean you're just gonna have to show me the way…"

"And you're not gonna rent anything until you get my approval."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I was looking around, trying to find something nice when I heard her voice from behind me, "So, did you find anything good?"

"No, I wasn't sure what type of movie I should look for."

"I say something funny."

"So, did you talk to him?"

"Yeah."

I turned to look at her, "And…"

She turned to look at the floor, avoiding eye contact, "And he's not coming. It's just you and me." after saying that she lifted her eyes to look at me, sadness evident in her every feature.

"I don't mind leaving if you want to be with him."

"So, comedy, right?" she asked, turning her eyes away, again, and trying to avoid the subject.

"Did you two get into a fight?" I asked, not letting her get away from talking about it.

"An argument." She answered quietly.

I felt guilty for putting her in the position she was in at the moment, "I don't want to cause any trouble, you should just spend the evening with Dean."

She smiled lightly, "One moment you're this macho man and the next you're a little girl…"

"Comedy, hu?" I asked, turning to the shelf again.

She smiled, "Yes, comedy."

"I could use a laugh."

"I could use one too…"

That was it. I couldn't take it anymore. I had to say something about the two of them, "Just dump him."

"Tristan…" she warned.

"Cut him loose."

"Stop it. I'm not in the mood for this right now."

"Say goodbye to bagboy…"

"We're not gonna dwell on this subject again."

"I guess that means you'd rather suffer." She looked at me, her eyes flaming, and still, I couldn't just shut up, "Why don't you try and do something that might actually make you happy?"

She turned to look at the floor and said with a shaky voice, "How about action too? Something with a cute actor…"

Realizing that what I've said made her feel really bad I smiled and said, "And I'll get porn…"

"If you just stop talking about it…" She was still thinking about it. Her eyes filled with emotion, begging me to let it go.

"So, I have you all to myself tonight?" I asked, smiling lightly.

She smiled with relief at the change of subject, "I can call Lane if you have a problem with that…"

"No, I have no problem whatsoever. I want only you with me for the rest of the evening."

"Awww." She smiled, "How sweet of you…"

"Just find a movie, okay?"

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. Your secret's safe with me…"

"Do you have popcorn in your house or do we have to get some?"

"I'm not sure. I think we might have some but we should get some more, you know, just in case I'm wrong."

"Okay, you'll stay here and get the movie and I'll go and get some popcorn."

"Just promise me that you won't get into a fight with Dean."

"Are you afraid he's gonna get hurt?"

"And here we go again with the whole macho thing…"

"I promise."

"Okay then,"

"No chick flakes…" I said warningly as I left the store.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"What are you doing here?" I heard an angry voice from behind me.

"I need popcorn." I said, not even bothering to look back.

"You know what I mean."

I turned to look at him, "Go stock some beans or something."

"Why are you doing this?"

"Why am I doing what?"

"Why are you getting her hopes up? I mean, she thinks that you've changed or something and she's willing to give you another chance. And we both know that you're only gonna hurt her in the end."

"Then why aren't you there to protect her like you should be?"

"Because I can't stand you. And I can't stand seeing you two together."

"We're just friends..."

"But you want more."

"We're talking about Rory here, you and I both know that she'll never do anything with me while you two are still together."

"But you still want more."

"And I'm not gonna get what I want." I said, frustrated.

"That's because you'll never change."

"Then why are you giving her such a hard time about it?" I started walking again, looking for that microwave popcorn.

"Because I don't want her to get hurt." He followed me.

"Right."

"What do you mean by that?"

"You'd love to be right, just so that you could tell her 'I told you so'. So don't try to fool me."

"You're wrong about that."

"Yeah, okay. I'm gonna go find that popcorn…"

"We're not done here."

"What else do you want? You've got her, she's with you, and you don't even trust her. I don't think you really know her..."

"And you do?"

"Look, all I know is that she won't hurt anyone on purpose. Ever."

"I trust her, it's you I don't trust."

"Fine, then if you trust her you're supposed to believe her when she tells you that we're just friends and nothing more." I turned around to look at him, "You're right, I do want more, but that doesn't matter because she's with you."

"You'd better not try anything…"

"Here it is." I picked up a couple of microwave popcorn bags, "I should hurry back, Rory's waiting. Are you sure you don't want to join us?" I moved to the front of the store, paid for the popcorn and started leaving.

Just as I opened the door I heard Dean's voice again, "You're an asshole, do you know that?"

"An asshole who's spending this evening with your girlfriend." Anger was evident in his eyes as I turned to look his way, a cocky smile forming on my lips.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"How did it go?" she asked as she saw me coming her way.

"How on earth can you stay with him?"

"Look, this night's supposed to be fun and all we've done so far is to talk about things that I just don't want to talk about. Why don't we just call it a night and you can just go home?" She turned to leave.

"I'll drop the subject, okay?"

She turned to look at me with a smile, "Good, let's go."

"So what'd you pick?"

"It's a surprise." She said, her smile turning mischievous.

"That's what you got?!" I asked, shocked.

"What? It's a nice movie…"

"It's 'Pretty Woman'!"

"And what's wrong with that?"

"It's a chick flake."

"You wanted something dirty so I brought a movie about a hooker…"

"Did you forget by any chance that some rich guy falls in love with her and changes her into a decent woman?"

"It still has a hooker in it…"

"I can't believe you brought this movie."

"Well, I have 'Notting Hill' on tape…"

"What is it with Julia Roberts?"

"She's a good actress!"

"Don't you have something that's just lying around?"

"It's in the drawer right over there. Why don't you get up and find something else?"

"Check the TV guide." I said as I got up, "Maybe there's something good on."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Okay, so talk." We were now seated on the couch in her living room; the TV was turned off at the lack of something interesting to watch.

"It was your idea…" she said.

"Only because you don't have even one interesting movie and there's nothing good on TV…"

"Then you're the one who has to find something to talk about."

"And what if I can't?"

"Then we'll sit here and enjoy the quietness."

"If Dean was here we'd at least have something to do…"

"You can call him if you want to."

"I don't have his number."

"Do you want me to give it to you?"

"I still can't understand why-"

"You promised…" she cut me off.

"I'm sure he'd understand."

"Tristan…"

"I mean, he's an understanding guy." I wouldn't let it go.

"Look, it's not like I want someone else, we've talked about it already, I don't see why I'd want to hurt him if I have no reason to."

"And you don't get hurt by staying with him?"

"Maybe you should leave…"

"Rory…"

"No, okay? Staying with him doesn't hurt me. I'm happy, and that's the end of it."

"Is that happy?" I asked, referring to her situation at the moment.

"Why do you even care?"

"I just do."

"Why?"

"You know what, I'm suddenly in the mood to watch Pretty Woman."

"Why are you always doing this?" she asked, sounding frustrated.

"Doing what?" I didn't understand.

"Avoiding from talking about yourself."

"Do you want to watch the movie or not?" I asked.

"Tristan…"

"Do you want to watch it or not?"

"No, I don't want to watch it! Why can't you, for once, tell me something about yourself?"

"There's nothing to tell."

"It's not like I'm gonna use it against you. We're friends, you know…"

"I'm just one of those guys, what you see is what you get."

"I'm sick of it, Tristan. Why don't you just go home and from there back to hell or whatever and we'll end it here?"

"I don't want to end things badly."

"Then stop being so stubborn."

"I'm not being stubborn…"

"Fine, let me help you, your name is Tristan Dugrey and you live in Hartford…"

"And I don't like talking about myself."

"Tristan…"

"Fine, what do you want to know?"

"Why'd you start getting into trouble?"

"I got bored."

"See? You're impossible."

"Rory, trust me when I tell you that you really don't want to know."

"I see." She smiled, "Girl problems…"

"I don't have girl problems, ever."

"And that's exactly why you got so frustrated."

"Okay, whatever you say. Now that you got your answer can we just drop it?"

"Why can't you just admit that some girl actually got under your skin?"

"We're not having this conversation. This is a girls' talk and as you've probably noticed by now- I'm not a girl."

"All guys have a feminine side."

"Well, mine got lost."

"Who is she?"

I groaned with frustration, "None of your business."

"If you'd be nice to her she might even like you back…"

"Trust me, she won't. She thinks of me as a friend."

"Then tell her how you feel."

"I'm not sure what I feel…"

"Just tell her."

"I'm not having this conversation with you…" I said.

"Fine." She sounded frustrated.

"Fine."

"Great."

"It is, isn't it?" I said sarcastically.

"Are you glad to go back to North Carolina?" she asked, changing the subject.

"I guess that on some level."

"What do you mean?"

"It doesn't matter. Forget I said anything."

"Come on, Tristan."

"At least someone gives a damn back there…"

She was silent for a moment, thinking about what I just said, "Someone gives a damn around here too, and someone cares around here…"

"But not the people who's supposed to unconditionally…"

"But you have Jane and Josh and all those guys." She turned to look at me, her eyes searching mine, trying to tell me something, "And there's also me."

After that simple, yet meaningful, statement we sat there quietly. Thinking.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Well," she gave me a smile, "you have my number. Use it."

"Oh, don't worry, you'll be sick of me in about a month." I smiled back.

"I'm glad we're friends."

"Yeah, so am I, trust me."

"Do you want me to drive you to the airport?"

"No, I already called a cab."

"Well, I'll join you and we'll say our goodbyes there."

"I hate goodbyes, just go home."

"Then I'll just hug you now…"

"I'm gonna miss you." I said, turning unintentionally serious.

"What can I say? I'm that type of girl, the one that no one can forget. It's obvious that you're gonna miss me." she smiled teasingly.

"Come on…" I pulled her closer, bringing my arms to her waist, and hugged her tightly, "I don't care what you say, I know that you're going to miss me too."

She hugged me back, "I never said I won't…"

I pulled away, looking at her, "What are you going to do without me?" I asked teasingly.

"The time of my life…" She smiled.

"Hey, that wasn't very nice of you to say…"

"You started it."

"I should head to the airport." I said, turning serious again.

"I know." Her eyes turned to look at the ground.

"Okay then," I came closer and gave her another hug, "I'll talk to you soon."

"Yeah…" She said, hugging me back.

I love the fact that she made such a simple gesture mean something. It was so nice to do it and finally mean it for once; it was nice to see that some people did it only when they really wanted to and not just because that's how everyone else acted. It was great to do it because I wanted to and not because I felt obliged to do it.

Sitting in that plane and knowing that it was taking me away from Hartford and away from what had started between Rory and I was hard. I didn't want to go back to military school. The food sucked, I had a curfew and the beds weren't the most comfortable things in the world, and that's an understatement. But still, I guess that military school had its advantages, I got to meet some great people, and it showed me that I couldn't always get what I wanted. I can't say that I loved it there, who would in his right mind? I guess that I just learnt that you don't always have a choice in life. I had friends there, and I guess that on some level that made a lot of things much easier.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"You're smiling." Don stated.

"I'm just happy to see you guys…" I smiled.

"Awww… I'm touched." John said, mocking my words.

"How are things back home?" Matt asked.

"My parents were abroad almost the entire time so I guess that pretty good."

"And how are your friends?"

"Everyone's okay."

"And how's Rory?" John smiled at me.

"Rory's just fine. Why are you asking?"

"Are you two-" Don started.

"Friends." I said, turning my head to look at him, "Just friends."

"And you hate that…" John observed, as he got up from his bed.

"Well, I'm not saying that I don't want us to be more but I think I'm okay with being friends." It was clear to everyone in the room, all four of us, that I was lying.

"Girls…" Don stated.

"What about them?" Matt asked.

"They're so complicated." He explained.

"And that's why we like being with them." I said.

He smiled in response.

"Unless there's something you want to tell us…" I continued.

"Yeah, don't worry, we promise we won't laugh at you…" John joined me, smiling.

"I had a girlfriend. Many girlfriends." Don said; sounding a little annoyed.

"Still doesn't contradict it." Matt was smiling.

"I'm not gay!" Don said defensively.

"Of course, we believe you..." John said with a smirk.

"So how did you fix things with her?" Don asked, changing the subject.

"Well, we met at my grandfather's party. She was there because of her grandmother; apparently our grandfathers have done business with each other in the past, and her grandparents were invited. I found her when I was wandering around the house; she was in the library. We had a harsh conversation at first but it soon turned into one of our known and loved banters. After talking for a while we left the house to get some coffee, because you know just how much she loves coffee," I saw them nod in understanding, "and we ended up spending the entire evening together. When it became a little late I took her home and we decided on spending the next day together. I guess that she had realized that we can get along and decided to give me another chance. I guess that we can just get along if we want to."

"And why, may I ask, have you told us all of this?"

"Because I spent too much time around her and I started acting like a girl and talking like one…" I said sarcastically.

"Oh look, Don, I've just found a great, sensitive guy for you!" John said, smiling.

"So, why did she forgive you anyway?" Don asked, ignoring John's words.

"I guess that with the letter and me apologizing again she decided to give me another chance. We're friends and that's how it stays."

"Only because-" Matt started.

"Only because she doesn't want more. And I'm okay with that." I finished for him.

"So what now?" John asked.

"Well, I have her number, I'll call her."

"When?"

"Tomorrow, I guess."

"Did you give her your number?" Matt asked.

"Yeah, she has it."

"And…"

"And we'll talk."

"That's good." John said.

"Yes, it is." I agreed.

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