Disclaimer: La la la…oh wait I'm supposed to put something here—oh yeah I remember. Not mine and the song is "Sonny" by New Found Glory.

A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed. I love the encouragement. And a big thanks to Shimmer_Dust for this title's song and her other suggestion which I can totally see being in another chapter, great picks! I have fall break so I'm posting this and going home to no computer. So leave me some great reviews to see when I come back on Tues. There's some Trory action in this so enjoy!

Chapter Three: Sonny

I'm sorry/I heard about the bad news today/A crowd of people around you/Telling you it's okay/And everything happens for a reason/When you lose a part of yourself/To somebody you know/It takes a lot to let go/Every breath that you remember/Pictures fade away but memory is forever.~ New Found Glory

Rory arrived at school with two travel mugs filled with coffee. She knew that she would need as much caffeine as she could get today. It was the first day back at Chilton, and she still couldn't get rid of those dratted butterflies in her stomach. Christmas had been fun a little awkward but fun nonetheless. She had never seem her mom have so happy, it had taken a while but Lorelai and Luke had finally worked it out and were dating. Her and Jess had fizzled into friendship things were a little weird but it was getting better each day. Dean…well it would take a while to repair the damage she had done to that relationship. She missed his friendship but she knew that it might never be repaired. Now she would be able to throw herself back into school and her vice-presidency and her work on the paper. Finish her year at Chilton and then on to Harvard—hopefully.

          Tristan had just come out of the headmaster's office when he saw her, Rory Gilmore. She looked different but the same; she looked more mature and more confident but she still retained that innocence and a fresh beauty. For one second he wanted to run to her, have her serenity sustain him. But instead he let his heart harden and turned in the opposite direction—walking away.

          Rory looked up from her book and cup of coffee and turning the corner she saw a guy that looked like…but no it couldn't be him. She would have known if he had returned, wouldn't she? And the Tristan she had known wouldn't walk away from her…would he?

          "Rory!" Paris barked scaring Rory and almost making her spill her coffee. Rory glared at Paris until finally Paris said sorry tersely.

          "So what's the crisis now?" Rory asked as she resumed ingesting the coffee quicker as she needed as much caffeine as she could get to put up with Paris this early.

          "What's the crisis? Don't you pay attention? I was speaking to the alumni chair and…"

          Rory half listened to Paris's new tirade as she prepared for the new semester at Chilton, her last semester. Thank God.

          Tristan rubbed his eyes the day was half over, he was hung over again and his brain was filled to capacity with all the work he had to catch up on. While at military school he excelled in all his classes, because there was nothing better to do than study. Plus he really was very intelligent he just got distracted easily. But military school in no way compared to the material Chilton expected its students to know.

          He spoke to Paris earlier and they arranged to get together this weekend to start to get him caught up. If anyone could do it, it would be Paris. He also hadn't seen Rory again, he was grateful for that. He really didn't want to deal with her now. Louise and Madeline stopped by his locker to welcome him back; they also gave him their condolences. For once Louise refrained from making any lascivious overtures. She just gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. Maddy just gave him a warm smile and squeezed his hand before he left. He had forgotten that they pretended almost as much as he did, and under the makeup, provocative outfits and words—they were nice girls.

          He didn't want to deal with his old cronies so during his free period he sought refuge in the library. Sitting at a table in the back he placed his head down trying to get some rest. A crashing sound awoke him; he looked to his right to see a whole self of books on the floor and an embarrassed Rory standing over them.

The scene was so comical looking that he had to say something.

          "You know Mary, you really should be more careful."

          Her head whipped around so quickly that she toppled from her crouching position.

          "Tristan?" she whispered as she tried to rearrange both herself and the books.

          "In the flesh." He responded as he ambled over to help her put back the books she had inadvertently knocked over.

          Rory looked up and yep, it was him. Looking even better than when he left, military school had only helped to sculpt his physique. But the closer she looked she also saw the bloodshot eyes and the dark circles under them.

          He noticed the intense study she was making and looked away as he continued to pick up the books and place them on the shelf.

          "When did you get back? Why are you back?" she asked unable to contain her curiosity.

          He continued to focus his energy on the books and responded in a blasé tone, "I got in a few days ago. I'm back because they decided it was time for me to come back."

          Rory knew there had to be more to it that that, "But—"

          Tristan interrupted "So how's life with the bag boy? Still Ward and June Cleaver?" saying anything to divert the attention from him.

          Rory rolled her eyes at the change in topic; of course he had to bring that up. "No actually Dean and I are not together." We're not even really friends anymore she thought.

          Tristan raised his eyebrows, "Wow what happened to the perfect couple? I mean I saw you guys coming to the reunion with your 2.5 kids and minivan."

          She glared at him and then succinctly told him what happened. "Jess happened."

          "Jess? Dean cheated on you with some girl?"

          Rory fought the urge to laugh at that. "Jess is a boy."

          "Dean cheated on you with some guy?" he asked incredulously. "Wow I didn't think Dean swung that way…but now that you mention it."

          Now Rory couldn't stop laughing at the though of Dean and Jess, oh wow. She couldn't wait to tell her mom this one.

          "No I cheated on Dean with Jess." She finally clarified after she stopped laughing. Them she frowned she hated admitting she had done it, but it happened and she couldn't change it.

          "Wow. I am shocked." Tristan half joked. Part of him wondered about how much she had really changed since he left.

          "Not as shocked as I am to see you back." She replied, "So who did you have to bribe to get back here. What strings did your father pull this time?" she asked playfully.

          But those questions once again reminded him of the event that had brought him home and his good mood came crashing down and pain descended after it. So he lashed out at the closest person…Rory.

          "I didn't bribe anyone nor did my father pull any fucking strings. I'm out and that's it. And now I'm back in this hellhole, don't presume you know why or that you know anything about me. Cause you don't." he yelled and stormed out of there, he couldn't stay at school. So he left.

          And Rory remained motionless in the library trying to regain her composure from the verbal lashing she had just received. What had happened to him?

          Tristan speeded down the highway, which highway he wasn't sure. He just felt so frustrated and angry. Today had been harder than yesterday. He didn't think that would have been possible. But it was, the normalcy of school contrasted with the well-meaning condolences on his loss. And Rory's inadvertent comment just made him snap.

          Rory walked out to her car at the end of the day, more than ready to go home. She was still upset over the way Tristan had treated her. She was so preoccupied that she didn't notice Paris coming up behind her.

          "Rory, where are you going?"

          Rory sighed as she turned to answer Paris. "I'm going home. School is over."

          "Yes, I'm aware of that fact. We were suppose to meet to discuss the first student body meeting of the semester at 3:05 it's now 3:11." Paris reminded her briskly.

          Rory groaned. "I'm sorry. It completely slipped my mind."

          Paris nodded, while neither would admit it openly, they had become really good friends over the past months. And Paris knew Rory wouldn't have forgotten their meeting unless something was bothering her. "What's wrong? Is it Jess?" she asked.

          "No, it's not Jess." Rory paused debating whether she should tell Paris or not, Tristan might still be a touchy area. Oh well. Here goes nothing. "It's about Tristan. I ran into him and we were talking and then he flipped out on me."

          Paris gave a tiny smirk, she should have known it was Tristan—those two created enough drama to fuel a WB primetime teen soap. "Oh. I'm sure he didn't mean to flip out on you. He's going through a lot because of his grandfather's death."

          "His grandfather died?" Rory echoed.

          Paris nodded. "Yeah, the funeral was yesterday. He and his Poppup were extremely close. So it has to be really hard for him."

          Rory closed her eyes in frustration, she felt so guilty now. "I didn't know that," She whispered " no wonder he was in a volatile mood."

          "You can apologize tomorrow Gilmore. We have work to do." Paris said as she grabbed Rory and headed back into the school building.

          Yeah…tomorrow, thought Rory.

          Tristan arrived home sometime after dark. He didn't know how far he had driven or how long he had been gone. He had just driven blasting his favorite CDs like New Found Glory, anything to distract him. He walked into his house and went to go straight up to his room but his mother appeared and stopped him.

          "Your Father needs to see in his study." She whispered as she took his jacket and book bag from him.

          Tristan closed his eyes and tried to prepare himself for whatever was waiting for him in that room. His mother's hushed tone singled that his father had been home and drinking for quite some time already. This was never good, but he braced himself for whatever he would be told now and knocked on the study door. What he would be told…was not something he could even begin to prepare himself for.

Well, I hope y'all enjoyed the funny dancing that your reviews for Chapter Two caused. No dancing this time just pleading cause my mean senile Writing teacher made me feel like crap this week…that I'm worthless and an awful writer. So since you're opinion means more to me than hers…some nice feedback would help a lot. Thanks!