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 - Um... Finally? So, so sorry about the long gap between updates. Things just kinda got crazy there with graduation, diplomas, work, friends, problems, vacation and most of all, university... I think that's about it. But yeah... As a result, I just had no inspiration to write, much less any time to write.

Chapter Five - If You Could Love Me... Like You Love Her

"Are you sure you want to go through with this?" Tristan asked Rory for the umpteenth time that morning.

It was the next day, the first day of school at Chilton. That morning, Tristan had reluctantly gotten up and put on the familiar blue blazer, never fully realizing how much this little plan of theirs had really affected him.

He got no sleep that previous night. He lay awake, staring up at the dark ceiling, the thoughts in his mind all jumbled up. As sunlight slowly began to trickle into his room, he realized that he spent the whole night thinking of both Evelyn and Rory, and how much he cared for both of them. He knew either way, one of them would end up hurt, and he couldn't bear to be the cause of that.

And now he wanted a way out.

"I'm okay with it, really," Rory reassured him again. But the truth was she didn't want to go through with their plan anymore.

She had spent the whole night lying in bed, thinking about what she had gotten herself into. The more she thought about, the more she realized she was fighting for a lost cause. Tristan didn't want anything to do with Rory. The only reason they were sitting together in this car was to appease his father. If it weren't for Mr. DuGrey, Tristan wouldn't be anywhere near Rory.

She sighed as she stared out the window of Tristan's Jaguar. He had picked her up from her grandparent's house that morning, and he had seemed somewhat sullen. She didn't push him to reveal why he was feeling like that, but she was pretty sure it was because he was stuck with her.

As they approached the familiar sight of Chilton, Rory began to grow nervous. She was never a good liar. Would people see through this facade?

They had decided that they needed to look as authentic as possible, meaning they couldn't just pretend to be dating in front of his father, but in front of everyone else as well. It wouldn't seem too convincing if they ignored each other at school, Tristan had reasoned.

Tristan slowly maneuvered the Jaguar into a parking stall, and killed the engine. As Rory began to unbuckle her seatbelt, she was surprised when Tristan stopped her by grabbing her hand.

"Are you sure you're ready for this?" he asked, a look of uncertainty in his eyes.

Rory bit her lip, and tried to look him straight in the eye.

"I'm sure," she said. He slowly pulled his hand away, and they both got out of the car. She could already hear the murmurs of other students as they passed by.

"Wow, is that Tristan DuGrey I see?"

"He's still looking good..."

"Who's that girl he's with? A girlfriend?"

"Nah. She doesn't really look like his type."

Rory looked down at herself, self-consciously. She was wearing the same thing as all the other girls in Chilton. Her hair was pulled back in a simple ponytail, and she was wearing minimal make-up. But the way that passerby said that last comment... It almost made sense to Rory.

We're from two different worlds, Rory thought to herself. It wouldn't have worked out anyways, she thought, a lump in her throat forming as she tried to ignore the thoughts in her mind. But it could have...

* * *

It was only lunchtime, yet Rory felt more exhausted now than she had ever been in her entire life. She couldn't escape them. Everywhere she went in the school was a semi-familiar face looking to get the dirt on her and Tristan's relationship.

Most people seemed to believe that they were a couple, but even more people seemed to believe that Rory was giving it up to him. From the evil glares she got from the girls to the leering stares she got from the boys, she didn't know how much she could take.

She needed to get some air, to get away from everyone. So instead of a suffering through lunch in the cafeteria, Rory decided that the only way she could relax was by reading in the courtyard. And it just so happened that today she had Orlando by Virginia Woolfe. She just reached the door that led to the courtyard, when she heard footsteps approach her.

"You know call me crazy, but for a second there, I actually thought we were friends," a cold voice said from behind Rory. She whipped around to find Paris, who was glaring angrily at her.

"Paris, what are you talking about? We are friends," Rory replied, looking a little confused.

"So then you just conviniently forgot to tell me that you and Tristan were dating?" Paris spat out, her eyes narrowed. "Was that the friendly thing to do?"

"Paris, I... " Rory began.

"You know what? Save it," Paris interrupted. "Look, I know I may be overreacting. But other than grades, Tristan was the only thing that kept us from becoming friends in the past. I thought I was over it, but Rory, you lied. You said you had no romantic feelings for Tristan and now all of a sudden you're dating him?" she asked incredulously.

"I didn't mean for you to find out this way," Rory replied, trying to calm down Paris' tirade. "I meant to tell you, I really did, but then..." she drifted off, as she tried to think of a plausible excuse. "It's complicated," she mumbled.

"What's complicated? You're the Queen of Chilton now. All the guys want you, all the girls want to be you. And all because you're dating Tristan DuGrey. So tell me Rory, how does it feel?" Paris asked, her voice wavering.

Rory stood silent for a moment, taking a good long look at Paris. She realized that this is what Paris had always wanted - to be the envy of the school. Sure, Paris was known to everyone at Chilton, but for all the wrong reasons. They feared her; they were scared to get in her way. And now Rory was living out her dream - dating Tristan, becoming the so-called Queen of Chilton.

Paris glanced over Rory's shoulder and gave her a tight smile.

"Save whatever you were planning on saying. Your King's waiting for you," she said bitterly. Before Rory could say anything, Paris turned on her heel and stomped away towards the cafeteria.

Rory leaned back against a nearby locker.

"Remind me again why I'm doing you this favor?" she moaned out loud, as Tristan leaned on a locker beside her.

"You were slightly drunk," he pointed out.

"Duly noted," Rory replied, as she closed her eyes.

"You know she was right about one thing," Tristan said. Rory opened one eye curiously, and saw Tristan leaning slightly over her. "You are the new Queen of Chilton. And there are certain expectations."

"As in...?" Rory wondered aloud.

"Appearances at parties of course," Tristan replied. "Then there's also making sure you're being seen with the right people, wearing the right clothes - outside of Chilton, of course - making the rounds at the usual hot spots..." his voice drifted off when he noticed the look of discontent on Rory's face.

"Going back to the 'being seen with the right people' thing... So what, I'm just supposed to ignore everyone that isn't pretty or popular?" Rory asked, frowning slightly.

"That's the way life goes at Chilton," he answered.

"But that's just... That's just wrong," Rory sputtered.

"I know," he replied, his eyes dropping to the floor. "But it all comes with the territory of dating me here. They all have certain expectations," he said, his eyes still downcast. There was a hint of sadness in his voice that Rory picked up on.

"It must be lonely," she remarked, her voice soft.

"You get used to it after awhile," he said. "You realize that you don't have any true friends here. They just see you as a cocky playboy... Not the person you really are," he finished, finally looking up and meeting Rory's eyes. She noticed the sadness in his voice reflected the look in his blue eyes.

He looked so vulnerable... She just wanted to reach out and caress his face, let him know that it would all be better. He held her gaze for a moment, before breaking away the eye contact and focusing on a spot to the left of her face.

"That's why I'm glad I have Evelyn," he whispered, before pulling away from Rory.

* * *

She felt like a fool. For a second there, she forgot that they were only acting as boyfriend and girlfriend. He had a real girlfriend, one that he loved very much.

Rory was realizing that she was doing this for all the wrong reasons. Tristan loved Evelyn. Not her. She bit her lip as Tristan took her hand, and led her down the hall. He nodded towards at various people, the "right people" naturally.

Tears were threatening to pour, but she willed them to stop. She wasn't going to shed tears over him; not over someone that wasn't really hers in the first place.

She wanted to back out of it, but it was too late. All around them, people had begun to accept them as a couple. Like Paris had said, they were the King and Queen of Chilton. As Rory passed by them, she could see one thing that set her and Tristan apart from everyone else that walked through those halls. The look of admiration. It didn't matter what they thought Rory was doing or not doing with Tristan. In the end, they had all seemingly accepted her as his girlfriend.

She just didn't know how much longer she could keep up the farce.

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I'll try my hardest to crank out another chapter before school starts up again (next week). Hopefully the next chapter will come out way sooner than it took for this one to.