Pairing - Tristan and Rory...

Disclaimer - I wish I owned them, but unfortunately I don't. They belong to Dorothy Parker Drank Here Productions and Hofflund/Polone in association with Warner Bros. Television. I'm merely borrowing them. Although I would love to steal Tristan away...

Feedback - Please!

A/N - I wrote this short fic quite awhile ago... Even before Run Away, Little Boy aired. It was meant to be a prequel to another fic, but I decided just to make it the first chapter. I've got a bad case of writer's block on my other stories, and the only other alternative I felt was to (re)start a story.

Chapter 1 - Goodbye to You

Tristan smiled. There he stood in the middle of a chaotic Chilton hallway, with the girl of his dreams. She gazed lovingly in his eyes, silently urging him to kiss her. It was a picture perfect moment.

Tristan began to lean down, his eyes sweeping over her beautiful lips. He wanted nothing but to feel them on his. Before he could plant a kiss on her, her lips began moving. She whispered something, that he didn't quite catch. He leaned down, as she whispered in his ear.

"Tristan? I hate him. I love Dean."

Tristan was taken aback. He pulled away, and the eyes that were once full of warmth, now gave him an icy blue stare.

"Rory..." he whispered. He looked down at their hands, which were entwined. She began to pull away, and disappear into the crowd of faceless students. Tristan looked around desperately, wondering where she could possibly be. He walked around, searching every place in the hallway imaginable, until his eyes settled upon her long, shiny brown hair. He wanted to call out to her, but he couldn't find his voice. Tristan fought against the crowd that was rushing against him, and tried to reach Rory. Only by the time he made it there, she wasn't alone. The girl of his dreams was now engaged in a heated lip lock with the bag boy. Tristan stared in disbelief, wondering how everything could have possibly changed in that one instance. As if it was an eternity later, Rory pulled away from Dean, and gave Tristan a smirk.

"I love Dean..."

Tristan woke up from his nightmare in a cold sweat. It took him a minute to catch his breath. This was the same nightmare he'd been having for almost two months now, ever since he heard Rory utter those fateful words. He lay back down on his bed, and stared up at the ceiling.

Tomorrow was the first day of school at Chilton, something he'd been dreading for. After all, it would mark the first time he'd see Rory since the last day of school, and the PJ Harvey debacle. He thought back to the night of the Chilton party, the night he and Rory finally kissed. It was something he'd never forget in his whole life. It was the moment when he realized that he was in love with Rory Gilmore.

When she had first started going to Chilton, he immediately noticed her beauty. There was something different about her than all the other debutante girls at Chilton. She just seemed so innocent, so pure. She had been nothing but a mere challenge for him, until that kiss. He hadn't realized how much he wanted to kiss her until they sat side by side at the piano, talking about their recent break-ups.

The kiss meant everything to him. And it meant nothing to Rory. She was clueless about his feelings for her, even after the whole dating Paris disaster. But Tristan still had feelings for her that he wasn't able to comprehend. And he was intent on making he feelings clear for her, until the day when all his hopes were dashed. She didn't even cast a second look at him once Dean came for her. And he hadn't seen her since... until tomorrow.

"I can't do this," Tristan whispered into the darkness.

* * *

Rory sighed as she walked up the steps to Chilton. Normally she'd be looking forward to the first day of school, but she knew that this year would be hell. Paris hated her, and Tristan... well, Rory just knew that he'd probably make her miserable this year too.

She walked down the familiar hallway to her locker. Her eyes were fixated at her locker, where she saw an envelope taped to it. The envelope simply stated "Rory" in handwriting. She opened it, only to find a letter.

Rory...

This is probably the last thing you're expecting to see, but it has to be done. It's 3:12 AM, and here I am writing you a letter. I don't know why, but I guess I just need to get some things off my chest before I leave for some boarding school in Switzerland.

When you first started at Chilton, I thought you were hot. And I guess that's why I started acting like a jerk to you, but all that's in the past. The day Dean came... that was supposed to be the day of our first date. God, I actually planned everything out. We'd go out to dinner, then to the PJ Harvey concert, then maybe for a drive around Hartford. We'd have such a great time that you'd want to do it again. And again, and again, and... well, you get the idea. But things didn't exactly turn out that way, did they? You saw Dean, and everything just suddenly changed. You told him you hated me, and I walked away.

God knows I tried to get over you this summer. I went after girl after girl, but it wasn't the same. None of them made me feel anything the way you do. You made me care about things. You made me feel happy, you made me feel love, and most importantly, you made me feel pain. We could've had something special Rory, if you gave us a chance. You stuck to the road well taken, just because you were just so damn scared to take the road less traveled. I don't know what could have happened if we took that road, but I just know that I wouldn't be feeling like crap right now if we did.

So congrats. You succeeded. I'm finally walking away from you, and everything that reminds me of you.

I hope you have a great life. I know I will once I get away from you...

- Tristan DuGrey

Rory re-read the last line. She was still in shock over the words she read, and the fact that he was gone from her life. She knew she should feel relieved, or even happy, but that wasn't the case. She felt nothing but emptiness in her heart, and sadness. She didn't know when she would see him again, or if he'd want to see her again.

A tear slowly rolled down Rory's cheek, as she realized that maybe everything she ever felt for Tristan wasn't hatred. Maybe she did have some feelings for him, deep inside her heart. And now he was gone.

* * *

Tristan took one last look out the window, before pulling down the shutters. He glanced down at his watch. 8:30 AM. By now classes at Chilton were starting, so he knew that by now Rory would have read his letter. He knew he might have been too harsh on Rory in his letter, but he didn't know what else to say. She broke his heart, and it was time that she realized the full extent of his feelings for her.

"Goodbye Hartford. Goodbye Chilton," he said softly. A lump rose in his throat before he uttered his last words before the plane took off to Switzerland.

"Goodbye Rory," he whispered.