hi ya'll. just for the record, i've never been to north carolina, and

i know absolutely nothing about it except that it is on the east coast

and is north of south carolina. all the descriptions are based on my

knowledge of massachusetts, connecticut, new york etc. cuz in my

opinion, once you've seen one state back east, you've pretty much seen

them all because they all look the same. green. its oh so pretty.

to bad i live in california and everything here is dead and brown. lol

ne way im WAY WAY WAY off the topic. enjoy and as always please r/r!

thanks.

Chapter 5: Welcome to Edenburg

"Mom, I'm home!" Rory called, setting her backpack down in

the hallway.

"How was your first day?" called Lorelai as she ran down the

stairs to greet her.

"Utterly and truly spectacular. You'll never guess who I ran

in to today."

"Who?" Lorelai asked excitedly.

"Guess."

"You ran into someone you met? Jeez, I don't know. Tell me!"

"Tristan!"

"Bible Boy?" gasped Lorelai.

Rory nodded.

"Details!" Lorelai screamed, throwing the magazine she was

holding clear across the room. She pulled Rory down onto the couch

and knocked off half a dozen empty boxes as she did so.

"I got to my locker and there was a couple making out in front

of it so I-"

"Tristan!" Lorelai interrupted.



"Yes, but I didn't know that until I said something rude and

he looked up and said 'well hello Mary.' And then I almost dropped dead

when I heard him say that, and I hugged him and then-"

"You hugged the enemy?" Lorelai interrupted again.

"I was happy to see someone I knew! Anyway, he's not really

the enemy anymore because he took me out for coffee and he was really

nice to me throughout the whole thing."

"A date! This Tristan boy works fast," Lorelai said.

"It wasn't a date. We just sat there and drank coffee and caught

up on the events of the past couple of years. That's all," Rory said

trying to ignore the look her mom was giving her.

"Okay. So are were you glad to see him?"

"Yah. I was. He's someone I know. I mean, even with our

difficult past, I think that we can forget about it and start over and

be friends. At least, I hope so."

"I think you'll be able to. So why isn't he at military school?

wasn't he sent here for that reason?" Lorelai asked.

Rory's cell phone rang. "Hold on Mom. It's Tristan," she said,

after checking the caller ID.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Mary, its me."

"Hey Tristan. What's up?"

"Nothing much. I was just wondering if I could take you and

your Mom on a tour of the town. You guys are probably hungry, and I

know all the good restaurants in the area," he offered.

"Sure. That sounds great. Pick us up in ten minutes. Okay?"

"Can do," he said. "Bye."

"Bye." Rory hung up the phone and went back into the living

room. "He invited us on a tour of the town and dinner is included."

"Us?" Lorelai asked. "As in both you and me?"

Rory nodded.

"Okay. That's fine with me. You know, this boy is really scoring

points in my book. Tell me, how many cups of coffee did he drink when

you went for coffee."

"Only one," Rory said.

"Only one! How can a person stop after only one! We can work

on him," Lorelai replied.

"Definitely. Oh, and Mom, no girlfriend jokes or anything,

because, as I mentioned, he does have a girlfriend and they look pretty

serious. But then again, Tristan's never really serious about anyone.

Well anyway, he's going out with that Shayna girl, so mind your manners!"

Rory said as Tristan's car pulled into the driveway.

"Fine fine. I won't try to set you up with him or anything,"

Lorelai said, closing the door behind them.

*****

"Edenburg is a small town. There isn't really much of anything

here," Tristan said as they started the tour. "You've got your one dollar

movie theater that only place one movie at a time and serves hot dogs

that are at least one year old. Then there's the coffee house 'Java City'

and the small library, the post office, the grocery store, the church,

and your only choice of dining, IHOPS."

"IHOPS!" Rory cried. "You're telling me the only restaurant in

this whole town in IHOPS! Even Stars Hollow had a different restaraunts."

"But we like pancakes," Lorelai said from the back seat.

"For dinner?" Rory asked her mom.

"How many times did we make Luke serve us pancakes for dinner

just because he doesn't serve breakfast after twelve?" Lorelai responded.

"That was just to bug Luke though."

"Don't I remember there being an Al's Pancake World or something?"

Tristan asked.



"Yeah, but they don't actually serve pancakes," Rory answered.

Tristan laughed. "That town of yours is really something special."

"It is," Rory said wistfully. "Looks like we're gonna have to learn

how to cook, Mom."

"Ah! My ears! You said the 'c' word! Are you really that much

of a wimp that you can't handle a couple of pancakes?" Lorelai said

defensively.

"Hey! Who you calling a wimp?"

Tristan leaned back in his seat and listened to the mother and

daughter bicker. There was something special about their relationship

and he enjoyed just sitting back and listening to it.

Tristan's cell phone rang as they drove through the town square.

"Hello?"

"Hey Baby. Where are you? I tried calling your house but no

one answered," Shayna said on the other line.

"That would be because I'm not there," he replied, already

becoming short tempered with his girlfriend.

"Well duh. So I'm at my house. Are you coming to pick me up?"

"Why?"

"For dinner? You know? I thought that maybe we could hang out,

eat dinner, watch a movie, go to your room..."

"Yah, I don't think so. Not tonight Shayna."

"Oh my God. You're with HER, aren't you?" she asked angrily.

"Maybe," Tristan answered easily.

"God Tristan. I knew this would happen. As soon as you saw that

thing again-"

"Hey!" Tristan yelled into the phone. Rory looked at him with

a confused expression.

"...you would run right into her arms. I thought you loved me!"

"I never said that," Tristan said coldly.

"But Baby, I love you so much. You know I do. I'm just-"



Tristan hung up on her. He didn't want to hear it. He was

spending time with Rory and he didn't want to listen to Shayna's jealousy.

"Who was that?" Rory asked.



"No one important," Tristan replied, his hands clenching the

steering wheel so tight his knuckles turned white.

Lorelai caught Rory's eyes in the rear view mirror and mouthed

the word 'Shayna.' Rory nodded her head.

Tristan's cell phone rang again. He took one look at the number

and turned it off. Rory sat next to him in silence, not knowing what

to say or do.