yo ho yo ho a pirates life for me! lol. im such a nerd. ne way i just

baked the most disgusting cookies anyone in the world has ever tasted

(it was this orange flavored cookie recipe) yuck! maybe i should quit

the baking and stick to writing. lol.

***

disclaimer: i don't own the show so if u sue me, you'll only get a bunch

of cookies that taste like crap

***

Chapter 18: Forgetting the Toothpaste

***

"Where are you going?" Mr. Dugrey called out when he saw his

son opening the front door that evening.

Tristan cursed under his breath. He was so close to making it

out the door...

"I'm going to go have dinner with my girlfriend," he replied.

"Girlfriend, eh? You never mentioned anything about her to me,"

his father said.

"Yah, well, I have one. Now, I'm going to be late." He turned

to open the door.

"I thought maybe we could go out to dinner, just the two of

us," his father said. "I would like to see the town."

"Dad," Tristan replied, trying very hard to keep his temper,

something he found himself doing quite often around his father.

"You have come to this very house in this very town since you were like

a baby. You know you're way around town. Plus, this is the last night

I have with my girlfriend, and I really, really want to be able to spend

some time with her."

Mr. Dugrey looked at his son. "Don't worry. It's not hard for

you to find women. I'm sure there are plenty of girls dying to date the

one and only Tristan Dugrey back at Chilton. You'll get a new girlfriend

in the blink of an eye."

Tristan couldn't control his anger any longer. "I don't want

another damn girlfriend!" he exploded. "I'm with Rory, and for your

information, I love her with all my heart. But that doesn't matter to

you, does it? You don't know anything about love."

"Don't use that tone of voice with me young man!" he warned.

"See, you can't deny it! You know, I almost think you take

pleasure seeing me get hurt and ripping me away from my girlfriend."

"Tristan that's ridiculous. I'm doing this for your own good.

Plus, its not like you are serious about this girl. How long have you

been 'in love' with her anyway?" Mr. Dugrey asked, making finger quote

motions when he said the words "in love."

"Since the beginning of my sophomore year in high school, father.

And if you really knew what was best for me, you would let me stay here

with the girl I finally got a chance to be with. But you don't know

what's best for me, do you?" Tristan asked bitterly, slamming the door

as he left.



*****

Rory accompanied Tristan to the airport early the next morning

despite Tristan's pleas not to.

Mr. Dugrey watched his son hold the pretty girl in his arms

for a long while before they said goodbye. If Tristan was facing his

father, Mr. Dugrey would have noticed that Tristan was crying as well

as Rory. But maybe it was a good thing he didn't see, Tristan would just

get grief over the issue on the plane ride home.

Tristan was reluctant to board the plane. He didn't want to have

to sit next to his father the whole ride. And yes, maybe the first class

seats were comfortable, but if it meant burying his face in a hot towel

or holding Rory in the freezing cold, he would choose Rory any day.

A flight that would normally last only a couple of hours if that

lasted Tristan and his father six and a half hours. It seemed that the

only way they could fly in first class is if they had a layover in

Michigan. Tristan thought that it was ridiculous that his father couldn't

just sit in coach for a few hours. It would have been better than

spending six and a half hours stuck in a small plane with the person he

had so easily come to despise.

*****

Lorelai let Rory miss school that day, knowing that she was

too upset to make it through the day. Rory just sat in her room and cried.

It seemed ironic that just one month after she had moved to North Carolina,

Tristan was moving back home to Hartford, to see Madeline, Louise, Paris,

and Summer. At one really low point Rory began to worry that Tristan

might run back into Summer's arms.

*****

Tristan reluctantly got out of his car and walked toward the

enormous school that he had not missed for a second since he found Rory

in North Carolina. The place looked even more dismal than when he had

left it almost two years ago.

He walked through the halls, wearing the familiar blue uniform,

trying to make his way through the crowds of people to get to the

headmaster's office. He didn't even notice all the shocked stares he

was receiving as he passed all the people who had missed seeing his

lovely face around school.

When the door to the headmaster's office came within sight, he

was actually about to thank God that no one had spotted him, that is,

until Paris spotted him.

"If it isn't the bank robber himself," Paris said sarcastically

as she nearly bumped into him in the hall.

"I didn't rob a bank," Tristan said coldly, before entering

the office. Paris just stared after him in disbelief. She had only seen

him for a split second but she noticed the usual twinkle in his

striking blue eyes was gone.

The rest of the day old 'friends' kept coming up to him, trying

to talk to him and find out what he had been up to these past years.

Beautiful girls kept coming up to flirt with him, but he just brushed

everyone off. By lunch time, he couldn't handle it anymore, and he was

in his car driving home.

Home wasn't exactly a sanctuary to run to, considering it was

just a big old mansion void of love. He had hardly even noticed it until

he had stepped into Rory's house and noticed how much more pleasant things

were when mother and child had a real relationship. The only relationships

that were going on in this house were the ones his father conducted with

his many mistresses.

Tristan shuddered at the thought.

*****

Rory looked at the calendar. It had been two weeks since she

had last seen Tristan. Two long, lousy weeks. They sent each other emails

every day, and talked on the phones several times, but even though

the conversations were cheery, they were dripping with underlying

sadness and emotion.

Rory flopped down on her bed and looked at the only picture

she had of her and Tristan together. It was taken by some freshman girl

on the yearbook committee, showing Tristan holding Rory in his arms,

kissing Rory on the forehead like he always did. Rory was smiling and

and holding him tight. The girl who took it noticed how miserable Rory

was without Tristan and gave her the picture, telling her that maybe

she needed it more than the yearbook did. Rory immediately went home

and framed it.

Now looking at the picture she felt cold and lonely without

his arms around her. She would give anything to just be held by him

right now.

"Rory! We're out of toothpaste!" Lorelai called from the

bathroom. "Can you run to the store and get some?"

"Sure Mom," Rory called back. She pulled on her coat and grabbed

the car keys.

Rory drove down Main street, thinking about the day he had given

Rory and Lorelai the tour of Edenburg. She smiled slightly at how

polite he was to include Lorelai. God she missed him. All of a sudden

she knew what she had to do.

She passed the grocery store and took a left onto the highway.

***

a/n: oooh! where is she going to go? you know, that purple button down

there will give u the answer if u click! isn't that fun?