Disclaimer.  As thankful as I am of you thinking that I might own the show, the characters, and everything related to Gilmore Girls, I don't. . . thanks for thinking so highly of me, though.

Minus Dean 6

Sunday had passed, and it had taken a lot of effort from Tristan not to call or visit Rory.  He figured he was giving in to easily to whomever Rory Gilmore was. 

Then weeks went by and they grew closer (much to his regret) as friends.  Both found they where comfortable around each other, still being themselves.  They would have fun, laugh, study, and envelop different endeavors together.

They had gone thru Rory's first bad grade ever.  She took it pretty bad.  And he lighten up the mood, and promised that he would help her out and comforted her with the fact that she wasn't supposed to know everything, and that she was in school to learn as all of them were.  That it had been just a small slip on her part but that she would recover. 

Paris had not been as easy on her though.

A couple of weeks into their friendship, Rory had gone over to Tristan's house to study.  There she met Will, who she described as 'a saint' since he had to put up with Tristan, and she asked if there was anything being done to promote his sainthood.  Will finally realized what Tristan had been talking about all along, and he knew that he had his work cut out for him if he was, indeed, trying to win Rory over.  After a few minutes of watching them together, he knew that that was the case.

Candace DuGrey met Rory later that same day.  Rory was nervous around her, but was as polite as anyone she had ever met.  She realized earlier than Will had, that this girl was going to give her son a run for his money, but was glad that she had been such an influence for him.  When she heard them banter, she just gave her son a gentle kiss on his forehead, and a light squeeze on his shoulder.  She later told him that she approved.

A Few  Months Later. . .

Tristan was coming into Chilton driving his beloved truck again.  As he was going into the parking lot, he saw her coming in thru the main doors.  She was reading yet again.  He smiled.  Rarely did he find her with her nose out a book.  He parked his truck close to the main entrance.  He got his books and descended from his truck.  He locked the doors from the remote, which automatically activated the alarm.  He ran to catch up with her, but he lost her in a sea of blue and gray.

"Hey Tristan" greeted a voice as he was coming in.

He turned around and found Clarisse, getting stuff out of her locker.  "Oh, um, hey Clarisse" he greeted her.

She smiled.  "What have you been up to?" she asked.

"Oh, not much.  You know the usual."  Was his nonchalant answer.

"You've been missing from the scene.  Where have you gone off to?"

"Oh, well here and there. . ." he answered distractedly.

She closed the distance between them.  "There was a time when I was your 'here and there'?" she said looking at him straight in the eye with a wistful look.

"Yeah, well. . ." he started uncomfortable.

"Don't worry, I know Tristan DuGrey has a lot of 'here and there' all over the place," she said placing a hand on his chest "I just hope that when you are done with your list you start over"

"Clarisse you have a boyfriend, don't you?" he asked not wanting to continue in this line of conversation.

"That didn't stop you the first time. . . and the time after that one" she answered "and I didn't complain either time," she added with a wistful tone "and I wouldn't complain now"

Therefore, he turned the patented Tristan charm on, and answered.  "So, how about I give you a call and we can work the details out?"

"You know the number"

"It's burned in my mind," he said running a finger thru the length of her arm.

She smiled.  He smirked and went on his way.  It was so easy to tap into his player side.  However, it was still beyond him, how there could be girls like Clarisse who would risk their steady relationships for a 'roll in the hay' (to put it crudely) with him, and then there where girls like Rory Gilmore that where immune to his charm and good looks.

Everyday he spent with her she amazed him more, to the point that he found himself trying to mold into something she would want.  She was making him change.

After a quick stop by his locker, an exchange of pleasantries with his friends, some other girl and some of his classmates – he went on his way to class. . . and saw her.  She was sitting on one of the steps that led them to the second floor where they had a couple of classes.  She wasn't even paying attention to her surroundings.  He came up the stairs and sat behind her, placing each of his legs on either side of her, supporting his arms on his knees and placing his chin softly on her head.

"If I didn't already know it was you, I would smack you upside the head with this book for your forwardness."

"Then I am glad it's me.  That's one very thick book." He said, smelling her hair and finding a change on her usual scent.  "New shampoo?"

"Yeah. . ." she answered eyes still glued to her book; she was used to him noticing little things like that.

"I like it" he stated simply "So, what are you reading this morning?"

"The Sound and The Fury" she answered.

"She answers as if I should know who the author is"

"Oh, one day you will know without me telling you" she said.

"But in the mean time. . ."

"William Faulkner"

"There we go. . ."

"So did you finish Hemingway?"

"Yes, I'm done with the Old Man and the Sea, The Sun Also Rises and I'm currently reading For Whom the Bells Tolls. . ."

"And how do you like it?" she asked.

"He is not as bad as you make it out to be. . .," he said simply.

She finally did turn to see him.  "Are you being serious?"

"Yeah, I mean. . . I don't have much to compare him to, but I like it.  Find it quite entertaining actually." He said looking at her.

"Oh, God!" She exclaimed, "You are being serious," she said turning around to her previous position.

"Of course I am"

"Well, you are entitled to your opinion" she said turning around again.

"Yes I am. . ."

"To bad it's so uneducated," she stated with a small shrug of her shoulders.

"I only have my tutor to blame for that," he stated.

"You should let her go then.  Find someone who fulfills your requirements."

"Oh, she fulfills my requirements"

"Then why is your opinion on Hemingway so high"

"Oh, I never said she fulfilled my tutorial requirements" She nudged him with her elbow on the shin "Ow! What was that for?"

"For your previous comment"

"It was a compliment of sorts, Gilmore"

"It was a leer," she stated.

"That's how I compliment people"

"I wonder how with those kinds of compliments you get as many girls as you do"

"Well they can recognize compliments"

"Yeah, as much as they can differentiate right from left" she said, pejoratively.  He chuckled; he was used to that.

"We should go in there," she said after a few seconds of silence, placing her bookmark on the place where she had stopped reading, and got up from the stair she was sitting at.

"We still have ten more minutes," he said as he checked his watch.

"Which brings to mind a question: why are you here so early?"

"I always like coming into school early" he stated, defensively.

"No, you don't" she started "In fact you make it a point to be here just in time for the bell to ring."

"Well, I'm trying to change that"

"And why's that?"

"I don't like doing stuff in a hurry" he said with an eyebrow raised and a smirk.

"Somewhere out there, there will be someone that'll be glad to hear that" she said as she lifted the rest of her books, went up the last few steps and into her classroom.  He followed.

"Wow, Mary! You are getting good at picking up on my subtleties"

"Subtleties?" she asked incredulously "You are as subtle as an elephant can be in an antique store"

"That's quite the comparison," he said as they both sat next to each other in the middle rows of the classroom.

"What are you doing?" she asked as she saw him sit next to her.

"Sitting" he stated the obvious.

"Yeah, but why?"

"Because we are supposed to sit while in class, since it would be tiring to stand thru the whole period," he said.

"I know that. . . what I'm trying to ask is why are you sitting in this classroom?  We don't have this class together; you have class with Miss Andrews, which is down the hall, right now"

"Oh, right.  It's a good thing I came in early.  See you around."  He said and started to leave, and then came back to where she was sitting, he leaned in, supporting his weight on his hands which he placed on each end of Rory's desk, and whispered in her ear "I enjoy the fact that you know where I am most of the time I'm away from you."  At the closeness, and the surprise of his approach she gave a small shiver.  He smirked, and she knew that without looking at him.

"Go away, Tristan"

"See you later, Mare" he said and left.

~*~

Class finished.  Second, third and fourth period went by.  They only had second period (English) together that morning.  However, they had agreed to meet in between fourth and fifth period. 

As Rory was coming out of fourth period, Tom Harris approached her.

"Hey, Rory" he said as he finally caught up with her.

"Oh. . . Hey Tom" she said and they both stopped in the middle of the hallway.

"That's some major assignment, isn't it?" he said referring to the project they had been assigned in class just a few minutes before the bell rang.

"Yeah, it is. . ." she agreed, "She outdid herself with this one"

"Do you have a partner for it yet?" he asked her, as he placed his free hand inside his pants pocket.

"Um. . . no, I don't since she said that it wasn't necessary to do it in pairs."

"Would you mind if I were to be your partner?" he asked innocently.  "I really need the grade and I can't do it on my own."

"Um. . . no, of course not.  I'll be your partner."  She answered, hesitantly.

"So, when should we start?"

At this moment, Tristan's class was coming out and he had agreed to meet Rory by her locker so they could decide on a study time for today since they had an English test two days later.

As he was rounding the corner to go and meet her, he saw her engaged in conversation with someone.  Is that Tom Harris? He asked himself, and walked a little faster to where they were standing. 

"Hey, Ror" he said when he finally approached them.

"Hey Tristan" she said as she turned a little to him.

"Hey DuGrey" Tom said in the nicest way he could muster.

"Harris" Tristan answered back with a small nod.

"So, how about it?" Tom asked Rory again.

"Since we still have a week, would you mind if we got together on Thursday afternoon, after school.  We could meet in the library."

"Why not today?" he asked her.

Tristan just tensed up a little.  He didn't know exactly what they where talking about.

"Oh, I can't today.  I have a major English test on Thursday and Tristan and I are going to study for it."

"Oh. . . well, you see.  I have Track practice on Thursday, how about. . ."

But Rory cut him off "We can get together after your practice"

"Would you wait for me all that time?"

"I'll be in the library.  I bet I can find something to do in there"

"Like read" he said, smiling at her.  Tristan could have punched him right there.

Rory didn't notice.  "Yeah, like read" she said, smiling back.

"OK, Thursday it is"

"See you then" she said, and he walked away.

"What about Thursday?"

"Oh, um, we are going to work on a project together"

"Oh" he said as they started walking towards her locker.

"You know what I'm in the mood for?" she asked him, and that brought him back in an instant.

"Rory, I never thought I would hear you utter those words to me.  Tell me and I will satisfy it immediately."

Rory made her voice sound deeper "I feel like getting on a Dodge, and go have some steak. . . and beer," she said mockingly.

"What?" he asked confused.

"What's with the testosterone-filled salute?"

"Which one?" he said trying to avoid the obvious.

"Before, with Tom.  What was that all about?"

"Oh, that. . . nothing really, it's just something that goes way back" and as he saw that she was going to ask something else, he added "and I don't want to talk about it."

"Oh, okay. . . I can respect that," she said as she turned the combination for her locker.

"You are giving up that easily.  That's a first."

"You forget I can get the other part of the story from him," she said as she signaled with her thumb over her shoulder to no one in particular, but referring to Tom.

"You could do that." Tristan said nonchalantly.  He figured that if he didn't give it that much of an importance she would forget about it.  "So anyway, about this afternoon. . ."

"What about it?" She asked as she got some books out of her locker exchanging them for the ones that she had in her hand.

"Are we still on?"

"Yeah, we are.  What's the plan?"

"The usual.  After school we drive to Stars Hollow, stop at Luke's, and then go over to your house. . . or. . ." he trailed off.

"Ooooor?" she asked, encouraging him to go on.

"We could go over to my house."  He said staring at the top of her head.  She smiled.

"Your house?"

"Yeah. . . Will and my mom have been asking about you and I just want to get them off my back."

"Come on Tristan, spill. . ." she asked suspiciously.

"What?" he asked innocently.

"Is there something behind that invitation?"

He leaned in a little closer.  "I plan to persuade you to go into my bedroom and have my way with you." he said, his voice with a huskier tone than usual.

She gave him a scornful look.

"Wow! You could really hurt someone with that look.  Better have it handy when Harris is around." He said, and then added "It's just so we have a change of scenery, I promise to be a perfect gentleman, just like I've been every other time. . . and I promise to give you great coffee; not Luke's coffee but almost as good."

Her look changed.  "You're on. . . just because of the promise of coffee."

"So I could still have my. . ."

"Drop it, Tristan."

"You can't blame a guy for trying."

"We should go to class right now. . . so I'll see you later"

"Later, Mary"

And they walked their own way.  Rory headed for class.  Tristan headed for the locker rooms.  Fencing.

~*~

Author's Note.  You might wonder, why there have been so many updates of this story all of a sudden, but there is a logical explanation to all of this: I broke my foot.  In addition, I have to rest for like three weeks, and I still do not have a handle on crutches yet, so this means I have to use my time on something else, and this is what I chose to do.  Therefore, I hope you are enjoying the updates.  Thanks to everyone who reviewed, although I have not been able to read them because I cannot access all of the reviews from the previous chapter, but I still thank those persons that took the time to review it and ask you to please keep doing it… it makes me amazingly happy.

This chapter turned out a little longer than I expected so the story has been extended to 11 chapters instead of the aforementioned nine. 

I would like to add that I really appreciate it when you tell me about any mistakes I made, either grammar or spelling, since my English is not my first language, but please do it politely.  I appreciate the help, but I don't like it when people make some comments that are hurtful at times.  Thanks you for that.

I hope you enjoyed!!