Disclaimer: I own nothing! Oh yeah, and reviewers are awesome, but that's just my opinion . . . ;)

Tap. . . Tap. . . Tap. . . Tap. . . Rory reached over and placed her hand over Tristan's with a wry smile in order to stop him from tapping his pencil any longer. "Please, please stop, I'll do anything. That is driving me insane." It was the beginning of the week, and after spending a great weekend with her mom, drinking lots of coffee and eating an immense amount of junk food, the last place she wanted to be was at Chilton.

Tristan raised his eyebrows. "Anything, huh? I'll have to hold you to that."

Rory felt her face burning as she turned her face back to her textbook. Earlier in the period, Mrs. Moland had announced that they would have a project assigned that day and that it would be worth fifty percent of their final grade. Most of the class groaned in protest but Rory didn't mind; she enjoyed learning about the past. Oddly enough, her and Tristan had been paired up as partners. A few weeks ago, she would have rather shove a pencil through her hand than work with Tristan for three weeks, but now she really didn't mind. For the past couple of days, they had talked through classes and even sat at the same table for lunch.

"So," Rory started, "this is going to be a pretty big project so we'll have to work on it quite a bit. We should probably get together after school today so we can figure out who will do what and how to split up the work so it gets done efficiently."

Tristan nodded. "Sounds good. So, how about we go to your house? I'm sort of interested in this Kirk character. He sounds like someone I'd want to stay away from, but who would be fun to watch make a fool of himself."

Rory grinned. "Yeah, okay. We can get a coffee from Luke's before we get started and I'll introduce you to some people. I will warn you though, Mrs. Patty will probably hit on you, and for the first few minutes you meet Luke, he'll probably want to kill you. He's a little protective of my mom and I at times, but he really is a great guy. He's like a father to me." Tristan smiled slightly, his eyes boring into hers. Rory looked down and started jotting points down in her notebook, blushing. She didn't know why, but Tristan seemed so much better looking today than he did yesterday.

"Ah, so," Tristan said, "Maybe after we finish working on the assignment for today, we could---" The bell rang. Tristan looked around as the other students gathered their things and headed out the door, and sighed. "Never mind, I'll meet you in front of the school after last period, okay? We can take my car."

"Sounds good," Rory replied as she gathered her own books and put them in her book bag. "Until then."

* * * * *

". . . so I'll cover the Constitution and Bill of Rights, The Courts, Legislature and Political branches, Federalism, and Contemporary Issues, and you'll do Fundamental Economic Concepts, Comparative Economic Systems, Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, and International Economic Concepts."

Tristan let out a long sigh. "This is going to be a lot of work."

Rory chewed the inside of her mouth, nodding. "I know, but I think we'll make a pretty good team, don't you."

"Oh yeah," he responded with a laugh. "So now that we've discussed what each of us will research, how about a break? Tristan closed his books and moved them aside, doing the same with hers. Rory shrugged. "I guess I don't have a choice, now do I? What do you suggest we do, Mr. DuGray?"

Tristan wiggled his eyebrows as he stood up from the table. "Ice Cream. It's such a nice day out, and we passed that Taylor's Ice Cream Shoppe on the way here and I've been thinking about it ever since."

"Tristan DuGray has a sweet tooth?" Rory laughed as she stood up, smoothing out her shirt. "Who knew?"

"Well, I have a sweet tooth. But it's not just for ice cream." He looked at her pointedly as they walked towards the door. Rory blushed. "You know," Tristan began. "You blush a lot. I never took you as the kind of girl to get embarrassed so easily."

"I'm not," Rory stated defensively, crossing her arms. "Well....I'm not usually."

"I guess I just get you all worked up, huh? It's my irresistible charm and good looks, isn't it? You know, I always thought I had that certain je ne c'est pas," he said, a smirk playing on his lips.

Rory rolled her eyes. "First of all, you need to repeat your French course."

"Second of all?"

"You couldn't be more wrong."

"Oh really? Well, I think I'm right. I think you have a crush on me. See? You're blushing again," he said, laughing.

Rory groaned. "I do not! And I am not!"

"Relax Gilmore, I'm just kidding." Tristan pulled the door open and held it for her, letting her go in first. A refreshing blast of cool air hit them as they walked up to the counter. Rory breathed in the sweet scent of caramel and cherries. "Mmmmm," she said as she glanced at all the flavors. "Everything looks so good."

Tristan nodded in agreement. "Yeah, it does. Get whatever you want, my treat."

"Oh, no thanks, that's all right I have some money," Rory began, but Tristan held his hand up as if to signal that he wouldn't take no for an answer. Rory sighed, but gave in to his wishes.

Taylor appeared behind the counter, and smiled. "Hello Rory, isn't it just a beautiful day today?" Rory nodded. "So, who is your friend? I don't believe I've seen you in Stars Hollow before. My name is Taylor and I own this wonderful Ice Cream parlor, and anything you want, you shall have."

"Anything?" Tristan asked, looking in Rory's direction. He smiled slightly, and turned back to Taylor, sticking his hand out for him to shake. "I'm Tristan DuGray, Rory's... friend. We were just working on a project and we thought we'd take a break."

Taylor beamed. "It's always nice to see you young kids working hard to succeed. Oh well I've gotten ahead of myself, what can I get for you two?" The two ordered and took their ice cream to a small table in the corner of the shop after a few more moments of small talk with Taylor.

"Rory, he seemed nice, and not at all controlling."

"Oh, you haven't seen Taylor at a town meeting."

Tristan laughed as he ate a spoonful of his vanilla ice-cream. "You have town meetings?"

Rory raised her eyebrows. "If you think that's weird. . ."

Tristan shook his head. "This town fascinates me."

"Well, I'm glad my everyday life can keep you fascinated."

"It does. You know, maybe we could make this a weekly thing. . . Ice cream here, I mean. Even if we aren't working on the project, it would be fun. I really like spending time with you, Rory."

Rory felt her face heating up. 'Stop blushing!' She thought to herself furiously. "S-sure, I mean, that sounds like fun."

"Good," he said smiling. He reached over and attempted to get a spoonful of Rory's Coffee flavored ice-cream, but failed after she playfully swatted his hand away.

Just then, Rory's cell phone rang. She reached into her jacket pocket and saw that it was her mother. "Hi Mom," she answered. "What? Mom, slow down! I'll be right there." Rory hung up and pushed her ice cream towards Tristan. "There you go, it's all yours. I'm really sorry, but I have to go, my mom sounded like she was going to have a nervous break down. I'll see you at school tomorrow."

Tristan watched as Rory walked out of the shop, a confused look on his face. He shook his head, a small smile still playing on his lips. Now that he knew that he would be able to see Rory at least once a week, he was a very happy boy.