Disclaimer: I don't really own these people. I most likely never will.

A/N: Thanks for the reviews, they made my day. The poem is "Nothing Gold Can Stay" by Robert Frost. I know it doesn't really relate, but I love the poem anyways.

"I see your love for coffee never changed."

"Darn straight, my boy." Rory practically inhaled her coffee, sitting down at a table in the middle of a busy café. "I think I might like this place." She looked around.

Tristan took the opportunity to study Rory while she was preoccupied with memorizing the contents of the place she was most likely to be at during the next year. Her hair was still the same shade of brown, and she still looked fragile as ever. Her eyes, though. Her eyes had changed from the sparkly sometimes to sparkly all the time, especially when she was laughing. Sighing, he laid his head on the table.

Hearing Tristan sigh, Rory turned around to ask him what was wrong. The words got caught in her throat, however, when she saw him. He almost looked like a little boy. A little boy with drop dead gorgeous looks. His blonde hair was still sort of messy, but looked as sexy as ever. Rory noted that when Tristan had his eyes closed, he looked relaxed and happy for the first time. When he was awake, he looked older than he was, aged by his past.

'She's staring at me,' Tristan felt Rory's eyes on his head.

"Would you like anything else?" The waitress took the moment to ask the pair. "Have I seen you two in here before? I swear you make the cutest couple." She stated in a Southern accent.

Tristan's head shot up so fast that he nearly fainted from the rush of blood. "No, no, it's our first time here. Well, together at least."

"And we're not a couple." Rory looked over to her right to see a flash of disappointment on T's face.

"Yeah, we're not." He echoed lightly, the waitress almost didn't hear him.

When she finally left, Rory burst out laughing. "Geez, are you alright? Your head shot up so fast, I wouldn't be surprised if you had whiplash right about now." She looked down at her cup, and gasped. "My coffees gone! My life giver is empty." She held up a small coffee cup.

"Nothing gold can stay, you know." Tristan pointed to the empty cup. Seeing Rory's confused look, he went on. "It's a poem by Robert Frost. I'm surprised you don't know it."

"How does it go?" "Nature's first green is gold, Her hardest hue to hold. Her early leaf's a flower, But only so an hour,"

Rory joined in, reciting a poem she had memorized since she was forced to read The Outsiders in eighth grade. Her voice melded with Tristan's perfectly.

"The leaf subsides to leaf. So Eden sank to grief, So dawn goes down to day, Nothing gold can stay."

The two looked up at each other as they finished the last line. "It's my favorite poem." Tristan whispered, suddenly interested in the oak table. They were quiet until the waitress came back, as they were still staring at each other.

"And you say you're not a couple. Ha." She refilled Rory's coffee cup and walked off, smiling. She was going to see more of these two. She hoped, at least.