Acoustic #3
By Golden Eyed Wonder

Ch. 10: Let Me Rest In Pieces

Summery: Now that Rory has confronted Tristan, how will she deal with the fact that her past has come knocking at her doorstep?

Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girls (duh.) nor do I own the fabulous song Rest in Pieces by Saliva.

Pairing: Trory with Literati friendship.

A/N: Thanks so much for the reviews.I'm up to about 80!! This chapter was updated a bit sooner than usual.so I hope all the kinks are worked out of it. To Tearose. I have read so many stories with different spellings of Tristan, so thank you for setting me straight! ;) I hope you all like this chapter which I'm desperately trying to make longer.and keep on reviewing!! Thanks y'all. On with the show.

"Look at me, my depth perception must be off again, cuz this hurts deeper
than I thought it did, it has not healed with time."

After letting go of Tristan's embrace, Rory wiped away her tears and took a slow, deep breath. Tristan gave a small, yet immensely reassuring smile. A weight seemed to be lifted off her shoulders, yet there was still some sadness in her eyes. All he wanted to do was take the sadness out, but he just didn't know how. All he could think of was getting some lunch for them.he had a long way to go.
"How's about we get some lunch, huh?" he asked gently while brushing some fallen hair back in place. She smiled a little, and nodded her head. 'Maybe getting lunch was a better plan than I thought.'
They took a short cab ride and then were seated at a small booth in a little coffeehouse that seemed vaguely familiar.. It happened to be the same coffeehouse they narrowly missed each other at three years ago. After ordering coffee, the two settled into an awkward silence. Both had so much to tell the other, yet neither knew the words to express it. Finally, Tristan began rambling about what happened after she left. How he showed up to her broken window, how he called the cops, and how her parents freaked out. At this, Rory snorted a bit mumbling sarcastically,
"I bet they freaked. Imagine the scandal!" This got Tristan wondering. was this why she ran?
"Rory, do you think you're parents don't care about you? Is that why you ran away in the first place?" Rory, looked a little uncomfortable, but admitted,
"Well, it didn't exactly help the situation." Suddenly, Tristan knew how he could make Rory become truly happy.
"Rory, you're parents love you. Sherry didn't stop crying for a week, and they eventually moved out because of all the memories." He attempted to explain.
"What memories? I don't remember any Kodak moments." Rory scoffed.
"C'mon Rory. You know they missed you. You were their daughter."
"Prove it." She challenged. Tristan thought for a moment. Then said,
"I can prove it. If you're willing to visit them, you can see for yourself." Rory looked at him in an utter outrage.
"Hell no." And with that, she grabbed her purse, threw a 10$ on the table, and began to leave. In a last desperate attempt, Tristan called out,
"Just think about it, Rory." This made her stop in her tracks and make her way back to the table. She leaned down to meet Tristan's face, and uttered in a harsh whisper,
"My name is Leigh." And then she left.

"Could you find it in your heart to make this go away, and let me rest in
pieces."

Rory slowly walked the few blocks back to her and Jess's apartment. When she got there, she dropped her purse and walked straight into Jess's chest, as he was making pasta at the stove.
"What's the matter with you?" he asked as he put his arms around her.
"Just a bad day, that's all." She muttered through his T-shirt. He felt a wave of sympathy, because he knew it was a truly bad day when she didn't want to talk about it. He tightened his grip, giving her a bear hug, then let go and held her out at arms length.
"Why don't you go take a bath while I finish up here," indicating to the boiling water, "and then we'll have a chick flick movie night on account of this bad day. Sound good?" She nodded, and padded her way to the bathroom. As Jess watched her go, he wished he knew if her bad day had anything to do with the guy she ran from at the cafe. He quickly finished making the spaghetti, and left a note for Leigh, letting her know he went to get the movies. When he opened the door, the blonde man was standing on the other side, hand raised in a knocking position.
"What do you want?" Jess asked suspiciously. He didn't know anything about this guy, accept that Leigh seemed surprised and a bit fearful of his presence back at the kitchen.
"Um. is Rory here? I need to talk to her." Tristan pleaded.
"Well, there's your problem, no Rory lives here." Jess stated as he shut the door behind him.
"Right, I mean Leigh." He seemed desperate enough, even a little pitiful. So Jess relented, and opened the door again. He led Tristan to the living room and said that Leigh was taking a bath and that he could wait for her while he went to get movies. Tristan nodded and sat on the couch. He heard the door shut a few seconds later.

"Look at me, my depth perception must be off again. You got much closer
than I thought you did. You're in my reach, you held me in your hand."

Getting back up, he looked around at all the pictures cluttering the room. Most were of Rory and the dark-haired guy. He picked one up that caught his eye. It was one of those double frames, on one side there was a picture of Rory the guy on a hayride surrounded by pumpkins. The connecting picture was of Rory and the guy sticking their heads in the holes of those wooden standup pictures, Rory was a witch, and the other guy as her black cat. The thing that struck Tristan like a lightening bolt was that she was truly happy in those pictures. He hadn't even thought of the fact that she might have an actual life here. A life that made her as happy as she was in those pictures. Slowly he made his way around the shelves and cases. More were pictures of birthday parties, of Rory holding a bird while attempting to kiss it's beak, or of Rory and other people making weird faces at the camera, and the last one, of that guy kissing Rory's cheek. and in every one of them she shined. Her smile was glowing with happiness. Who the hell was he to come here, trying to convince Rory to go back to the life that made her so miserable, when she was so obviously happy where she was now? With that thought, Tristan turned around and headed for the door, but stopped short upon seeing Rory standing in his way, hair wet and wearing a bathrobe.
"I didn't know you were standing there." He muttered. She just smiled a little bit. " I have to ask you just one question, and then I promise that I'll leave you alone." she waited, as he paused, "Are you happy?" Rory stood there, hair dripping, and answered,
"Yes." And with a quick nod, he made his way to the door. He had just about left when he heard her say quietly, "But that doesn't mean I don't miss you." He slowly turned around, waiting for her to explain. "I was miserable in Hartford. Simple as that. I left and made a new life for me, one that makes me happy. but that doesn't mean I didn't make sacrifices to get this life. I've thought about you every day since I left." She paused as her voice cracked in sadness," I even wanted to call or write, just to have some connection to you, but I just couldn't. It was too hard knowing I left you there, and I just wanted to run. And then today you mention seeing my parents.. I mean, don't you realize they are what I was running from? I'm not ready to see them yet, and I just, I just freaked. And I'm sorry. " By now tears were running down her face in an uncontrollable flood.

"Could you find it in your heart to make this go away, and let me rest in
pieces."

"What are you sorry for, Rory? For wanting to be happy?" he asked gently as he made his way to her. Still crying, she shrugged her shoulders. "Well, don't be. You of all people deserve happiness." Rory slowly looked up at him, and suddenly felt she needed to show him how much he meant to her. So she leaned in, and their lips met. They kissed for a good while, until they ran out of breath. Rory, tired from all the emotions she had gone through, leaned her forehead against him, and smiled into his chest. 'It was turning out to be a pretty good day after all.' she thought as he wrapped his arms around her body.