Disclaimer.  Don't own them.

Minus Dean 10

She waited for the car to drive out of her driveway.  Then, she waited for the car to drive by Luke's.  Then she waited for the car to drive out of Stars Hollow (at least she waited long enough for that to happen… she did some calculations).  But then, she realized that the reason why she was not moving was that she felt like her feet were made of concrete.  It was that kind of feeling people get when they say, "I was glued to the spot."  Either way, it wasn't that she wouldn't move; it was that she couldn't.

That kiss had been life altering to say the least; as beautiful as Paris in the springtime (if were possible to compare one with the other); as sweet and yet as sinful as Godiva chocolate.  There had been a moment where she thought that her heart would stop and her knees buckle.  How could Tristan do something like this to me? she thought and then she smiled.  And then she chastised herself, No.  No smiling.

"He was vulnerable"; "he didn't know what he was doing"; "he probably didn't feel a thing"; "By tomorrow, he won't even remember it happened," all kinds of excuses came to her mind, anything to ignore the fact that they had kissed.  Denial is always so much better than acceptance.

Whatever it was she figured that she would pull a Scarlet O'Hara "and think about it tomorrow", and when she regained feeling in her feet and legs she decided to go into her house, into her room, change her clothes to pajamas, and got to bed.

*

She hadn't been able to fall asleep as easily as other nights, and for Lorelai that wasn't a good thing.  She had work the next day.  But she was worried… about Tristan.  She didn't know how the kid won her over.  Some would say that coffee might have played a roll in it; in fact, Rory insisted on that one.

But she knew what it was that won her over.  To win Lorelai over, most of the time, was through Rory.  And the way that boy treated her, it was more than enough reason to love him.  Granted, he teased her daughter mercilessly, he made leering remarks at her that (to someone who wasn't on the receiving end of them) were amusing, the joking, the bugging, and everything else.  But he also was a great friend to Rory, stood by her when needed, supported her, and helped her.

Lorelai smiled.

And that look on his face whenever he looked at Rory was priceless.  It was an expression of love (and sometimes-other things).  Only Rory wasn't able to tell he liked her, and was most definitely (at least in Lorelai's opinion… and everyone else in Stars Hollow) in love with her.

When Lorelai heard gravel movement indicating the arrival of a car at her house she removed the blankets from on top of her, got up from the bed and walked towards the window.  And that's when she saw them.

"Well it's about time," she said to her empty room and smiled.  And started to move, but then did a double take and added, "Where did they learn to kiss like that?"

*

"You're up early" Lorelai told Rory as she was sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee cradled in her hand.

"Wasn't that sleepy" Rory answered distractedly, never removing her eyes from the cup.

"How's Tristan doing?"

"Fine… or as well as one can be in this situation."

"Was it a sudden thing?" Lorelai asked, referring to Janlan DuGrey's death.

"No, he had been ill for months now.  I guess that even if you know it's going to happen, it's still unexpected."

"What's up with you?" was Lorelai's 'subtle' attempt to change the subject.

"Um… nothing, I'm fine." Rory said finally looking up from her cup.  She gave her, what she thought was, a half-smile.

"You don't seem fine," Lorelai stated.  "You know you can tell me anything, right?"

"Yeah, I know."

"You seem so quiet."

"I don't feel like talking."

"Well you know where to find me when you feel like talking," Lorelai said as she started to walk away.

"I'm confused" Rory stopped Lorelai mid-way.

"About what?"  She asked as she took a sit across from Rory.

"Well, um, you see…" Rory started.

"Let me help you… Tristan and I… go on, take it from there."

"How do you know it's about Tristan?"

"Call it 'damn's mother intuition'"

"Tristan and I… we're friends, right?"

"But you know it wouldn't be that way if it were up to him"

Rory didn't answer.

"The question now is do you want it to change?"

"That's what's getting me confused."

"Well that and what happened last night, right?"

Rory's head snapped up, her eyes wide.

Lorelai gave her and apologetic smile.  "I was up and I heard the gravel move.  I saw you outside with Tristan… when I went to the window.  I'm sorry I didn't want to peek or anything… it just happened."

"Well its better that you saw it, as embarrassing as that thought is, than you finding out from someone like Patty or Babette… I swear they have this place bugged, not just our house, but the whole town too."

"Either that or everyone is nosy and are peeking through out windows looking at the on-goings in town and then reporting to Patty and Babette who might just secretly have head-quarters set up somewhere."

"Don't talk too much, if they think we are getting suspicious about them, they might just whack us."

"This is a regular small-town Mario Puzzo story."

"One day we just might get hit with a canoli."

They both smiled.  Lorelai's wider than Rory.

"But seriously, honey.  How are you feeling about what happened?"

"It was unexpected, to start with.  I never expected that from him."

"Rory, sweetie, where have you been living? Have you not been paying attention to your own life?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it is more than obvious to everyone else that Tristan is head over heels in love with you.  Do you think all of the attention he gives you is because you are a nice friend?"

"I am a nice friend." She stated defensively.

"I know you are, but that's not the point to that rhetorical question."

"Then what is your point."

"Rory, unless you have been living under a rock, you might have noticed that this boy is constantly around you…"

"Its part of his annoying personality."

"He compliments you…"

"If you can call that compliments… even he calls them 'compliments of sorts'"

"He stands up for you…"

"No, he stands up for himself and if it happens to coincide with something that…"

"If you are going to keep refuting everything I tell you to make your own point, then there is no reason why we should have this conversation at all."

"It's easier to deny it than to actually try to comprehend it."

"Well, if it had been that way thru out history, then we probably wouldn't have history, you know.  Imagine if Newton had decided to say what you just said.  We might not know what gravity is."

"This is completely different."

"My point is that there are some discoveries that are worth trying to comprehend.  Granted that your love life might not be as important to the world as gravity is, but it is important to you and, in addition, to me… and to him.  You owe it to yourself, and to him, to figure out your feelings before he calls you.  Because he is going to call you."

"I know.  What am I going to do mom? What if I loose my friend?"

"If you are not willing to take a risk, then probably you already know what your feelings towards what happened are."

"It's not the risk I'm afraid of taking… it's the consequences to that risk that are the scary ones."

"You cannot play it safe all the time."

"I can try."

"Then you will never have fun… life is not as fun when you avoid taking risks.  The person that take risks, are the ones that can actually say I was happy once…"

"Yeah, but I don't want to be happy just once…"

"Well, that is totally up to you to decide.  If you don't take the risk, you will always be safe… but also, you will always wonder 'what if' and that's a bigger torture." Lorelai finished.  "I have to go, I have to get to the inn early today… are you going to be ok?"

"Nope, but thanks for the talk… I have to get ready too, I've got school." And with that, they both got up from the kitchen table and went on their way.

~*~

Rory had been on autopilot for most of the day.  She had gone from one class to the next, to lunchtime… did her tasks without even paying any attention to them.  She had been trying to figure out that jumble in her head, and however way she turned it around, she still came to the same spot: she was scared.

And the fact that people had been asking her how Tristan was doing, and when he was coming back to school didn't help matters much.  To make matters worse, she had been getting dirty looks from girls, and raised eyebrows from jocks and people who attended the service the day before. 

There where the less-than-subtle questions that came from people like 'since when are you guys together?', or 'you make a fine couple, why didn't you tell us about it?'.  But her personal favorite were the questions that weren't being asked to her but in conversations that she picked up from here and there 'how long do you think that is going to last?'.  There were those optimists that said 'since it took him that long, I'm guessing a month', and there were those who said 'are you kidding… I don't think even the usual two weeks'.

And thru out the whole day she wanted to scream.  Let everyone know that she wasn't dating him, but she figured that would only make the gossip-mills blow with a lot more speed.

She was there to support a friend, why was everyone making such a big deal out of something so simple.  Because they were holding hands? That made her wonder if she had been holding hands with someone other than Tristan DuGrey, would it have had the same reaction.  She had accepted a date with Tom Harris, and it hadn't caused that big of a commotion… so why holding hands with Tristan would cause it?

Then she remembered something Lorelai had told her that morning, it is more than obvious to everyone else that Tristan is head over heels in love with you.  She realized then, that she was as oblivious as everyone thought she was.  Good thing the school day was over.

~*~

The little bell over the door chimed, and from the inside of the store came the voice "Welcome, everything 20% off."

"Mrs. Kim? Its Rory… is Lane home?"

"Oh, Rory.  Lane is in her room, doing homework.  She can't…"

Rory, out of sheer luck, found the source of the voice faster than she ever had in her life.  "Mrs. Kim, please it's very important for me to talk to Lane." When Mrs. Kim saw Rory and the face of true need and desperation she had she allowed her to go up to Lane's room.  "You have 20 minutes." Mrs. Kim said as Rory was running up the stairs.

When she came into the room, a very surprised Lane jumped up.  Homework time was the only moment she actually had to herself… so she took that time to re-arrange her CD collections or check for missing and must-have CD's, on her Music Encyclopedia. 

"Rory, you scared me half to death…" but when she saw the look on her face, she continued, "What's wrong?"

"Tristan kissed me." Rory answered simply.

"Wow, um… what… um… Woooow!"

"Need a little more than that… and quick, we only have 20 minutes."

"She's in a good mood…"

"I don't know what to do…"

"I don't' know what to say… I mean, I had no preparation to hear about that event… I knew it was going to happen, it's just that I expected a little cushion before such news"

"I'm sorry; it's the lack of time…"

"So…"

"You knew it was going to happen?"

"It was just a matter of time, or timing."

"Was I the only one that didn't know?"

"Apparently… someone is going to be happy about winning the pool."

"There was a pool?"

"Yeah… it is Stars Hollow."

"Wow"

"Yeah… so, um, how do you feel?"

"I don't know… Lane, what am I going to do? This is just so, um…"

"Overwhelming?"

 "Yeah… it's… I need help?"

"You obviously do."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"If you think you need help, then you obviously do.  For some girls this should be a no-brainer."

"What are…?"

"Listen Rory, this is a good thing that is happening to you.  A boy that really likes you, that has done anything he can to win you over, that has showered you with attention, that has done everything that you ask him to do, that learns your quirks, that knows you tendencies, that puts up with… I don't know, you dating someone besides him, and still ask you out after you dump the other guy; a guy like that, many girls would die to have.  Something like what you have it's not easy to come by… and the fact that he looks the way he does, well it's just icing on the cake."

"Yeah, but…"

"Look, I know you can be very oblivious at times, but I know you are not that oblivious that you wouldn't know a good thing when it's right in front of you.  And that fear, because it is fear that you are feeling, it's because you know that you feel the same way about him as he feels about you.  It's just hard for you to acknowledge that."

"Since when did you become such a fountain of wisdom?" Rory asked with a smile.

"I'm the poster girl for 'those who can't do, teach'…" she answered smiling.  "If you think that what you need is time, tell him so… I bet he would give it to you in a heartbeat.  However, don't take to long; he has been patient long enough.  What you are going to go thru is not easy, but I bet it will be fun.  It should be a risk you should take."

"What if it doesn't work out?" Rory asked the same question from earlier that day.

"Take the good experiences and memories, because they will make you happy, and learn from the bad ones, because that will make you wise."

"Wow, you're better at this that my mother…"

"When did you talk to her?"

"This morning… she saw us kiss last night."

"First, you should know better that to talk to Lorelai in the morning.  And second, please elaborate on the 'she saw us kiss' part… we still have 12 minutes to spare.  And give me details on the whole kiss thing, please!"

And with that, the two friends started discussing what had happened the day before, and Rory's conversation with Lorelai that morning.

~*~

Rory came out of Kim's Antiques after her twenty minutes had passed.  Her conversation with Lane had helped her.  She needed someone to help her sort out things in an orderly manner.

She was walking over to her house, with a Luke's cup of coffee in hand, when she spotted his truck parked in the driveway.  Her strides became a little longer.  When she finally reached her house, she was Tristan sitting on the porch's bench, his head in his hands and dressed completely in black.

She leaned on one of the columns and she saw him lift his head.

"Hey" she told him, when their eyes locked.

"Hey" he said and started to get up.

"Do you want to come in?" she asked him, nodding towards the house.

He reached her where she was standing, and grabbed her hand.  "Why don't we sit out here? Its nice." he said as he pulled her to the bench, where they both sat.

"So… um… how are you doing?" she asked trying to break the silence.

"I'm okay, I guess." He said as he played with her fingers.

"How's your family doing?"

"My father is back at work.  And my mom is okay."

"That's good, right?"

"Yeah… How was school?" he asked as he looked at her.

"It was school, you know, same competitive people walking the hallways and all that… they asked about you."

"Yeah, I had phone calls of people thru out the day…" he said looking back at her hand.

"Many girls, huh?" she tried to tease.

"Except from the most important one…" he said looking back at her.

"I'm sorry; it's just that I…"

"I did say that I was going to call you…"

"Yeah, but I…"

"Did I ruin things between us?" he asked unexpectedly.

"Oh… um… no… well, um…"

"I did, didn't I? I'm sorry Rory, I wasn't thinking much.  I just… I'm sorry about it."

And then she pulled her hand from his grasp.  He was apologizing, and she had been racking her brain all day trying to figure out what had happened.  And now he was apologizing.  What was he doing?

He was surprised when she pulled her hand from his grasp.  He wasn't expecting that reaction.  He figured that what he had to do was apologize to make her feel a little less awkward.  He didn't want to go thru the 'letting down easy' conversation, so he figured he would beat her to it.  He just wouldn't be able to take any more pain.

"I have things to do… you know, homework and stuff." She said coldly.

"Oh, yeah, I know… I should go, then." He said and he got up from the bench.  "I think I will be going back to school tomorrow, so I'll see you then." He said and walked towards his car.  A few seconds later, he was driving out of the driveway.

~*~

"THAT JERK!!!!" Rory screamed as she went into the house after Tristan left.  "What the hell is wrong with him?" she asked to no one.

She wasn't expecting that.  She figured that he would want to talk about what happened and they will come to an understanding and take it slow and one step at a time… together. 

"How dumb can a person be? I was right all along… there was nothing there, and here I was thinking about stuff that was never there to begin with… How dumb can a person be?"

She was exasperated.  She was so upset.  She was so… sad.  With that she slid down the wall hear the door, and let her tears fall. 

She felt like she had been building castles in the sky.  Why did she have to listen to everyone else's opinions and thoughts in the matter?  It was her life after all, not everyone else's; so her opinion should be the only one that mattered.

She stood up and cleared her face from her tears.  She wasn't going to let something that never happened, get her down.  Nope.  She will recover and move on.  You can't miss something you never had, she kept convincing herself.  That would be her new mantra.

~*~

That day, Lorelai had arrived at home and asked her what she had thought through out the day.  Rory just gave a curt answer telling her that she had made her decision and that that should be all that mattered.  Lorelai knew that when Rory gave those answers it was something that she didn't want to talk about and that she would have to let it go, until Rory was ready again to regain hold on it again.  She was there to support her daughter, no matter how bad her decisions were at times.

Tristan had been back at school the day after his visit to Rory's house.  And when he approached her locker to start the whole day, she wasn't there.  He was a little surprised but figured that he would see her later on that day.

But he didn't, well except for the classes that they had together, but even then, he hadn't been able to talk to her.  She was always to busy taking notes and paying attention in class.  When class was over, she would be out the door and he wasn't able to catch up with her. 

He didn't understand what was going on.  He thought that he had done the right thing, the one that was expected so they wouldn't ruin their friendship… because he would rather have her as a friend than no way at all.  But apparently, he didn't do the right thing, but instead something that had gotten them further apart.

~*~

Rory had her mind made up.  She was going to avoid Tristan, at all cause.  She was not ready to go back to something that she wouldn't be able to handle.  She needed to forget about him, and learn how to ignore the feelings she had towards him.  She had ignored them for so long, she figured that would be able to do it over and that she just needed time for that.  And when she had her abilities back, she was going to go back and still be friends with Tristan.

So, as if she had a map of the Chilton Underground, she avoided meeting him in all the usual places.  Her locker was the biggest task, but she rearranged her locker schedule.  What she did was: in-between second and third period she would go and get her books for third, fourth and fifth, that way avoiding meeting him in-between fourth and fifth.  Then she would go to her locker at the end of fifth and get some other books.  She would avoid lunchtime by bringing her own lunch and eating it in a secluded area that hardly anyone visited.  And just before last period, she would get her backpack and the books for her first period class, therefore avoiding meeting him at the end of the day or first thing in the morning.  Being Rory Gilmore was exhausting.  But she had hope in her plan.

In class, she will usually sit in the middle of groups, that way avoiding having an empty sit next to her for him to sit in.  When everyone stood up, she would remain seated, going out with one of the groups where she could get lost in the middle and get out of the classroom.  Last, but no least, in-between periods and stuff she figured that the safer place to spend that time was… the girls' bathroom.  She had it all figured out.

She was going to become ignorant of her feelings once again.

But to best laid plans…

When days went by, Tristan started paying more attention to her… with the help of his friends.  Josh, Alex, Nick, and even Bryce were helping him figure out Rory's movements.  So by Friday he figured out what Rory had been doing these last few days to avoid running into him.  And they decided that the best time to approach her was just before last period, at her locker.  And if that didn't work, they always had plan B, which consisted of a distraction, a missed bus, a disappearance and someone driving her back to Stars Hollow… even if it was against her wish.

Meeting Rory at her locker worked out well though.  Tristan had gotten a hall-pass so he got out of class a few minutes early, and hid behind a row of lockers.  When he saw her arriving and opening her locker, he finally approached her.

"Hey," he said as he walked behind her before leaning on the locker next to hers.

She sighed.  "Hey," she answered back without looking at him, and wondered how far she could run before he caught up with her.

"That was some planning you did…," he stated.

"What are you talking about?" she tried to sound nonchalant when she asked.

"That whole avoiding stunt…"

"What avoiding stunt?" she asked as she turned to him and started to close her locker door and shutting it.  "Tristan, I really don't have time for this…"

"What do you mean 'what'?" he asked running a hand thru his hair.  "Changing locker schedules, changing paths, avoiding lunch… what was that about?"

"I was trying to keep it a little… whimsical," she said as she started to walk away.

He fell into step with her.  "By doing a whole new routine for four straight days? If you ask me that is anything but whimsical."

"Well, no one is asking you…"

"Rory, come on…" he said and held her by the wrist, softly.

"Tristan, I really need to get to class," she said as she did a little twist of her hand to release herself from his hold.

"Rory, I need you…," he said.  She just gave him a sad, knowing look and walked away from him.

~*~

"Independence Inn, Lorelai speaking"

"Lorelai? It's Tristan"

"Hey there! How are you?" she asked.

"Do you know what happened to Rory?"

"Why?"

"No, don't get scared she is fine.  I was talking in regards to me.  Is she mad at me for something I did?"

"I truly don't know honey… I just came in on Monday, from work, and I asked her if she had figured some stuff out and she told me that she had made a decision and that she didn't want to talk about it.  And I've been in the dark ever since…"

And then it hit him.  "Monday?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I was over at your house on Monday…"

"You are at our house quite often, why should Monday be any different"

He just chuckled.  And then she answered… "Oh… so you think that that could be the reason?"

"Well it makes sense" he answered, "you see I apologized for… um… and then she got upset and told me that she had stuff to do and then I left."

"You apologized?" she asked incredulously.

"Well, yeah… I thought that was what she wanted…"

"So you apologized…" she stated.

"Yeah… I didn't know what else to do; I didn't want to screw everything up.  I love her to much to lose her too."

"That's what you did wrong… did you ask her what she wanted?"

"Well, no, I assumed that…"

"You know what they say about assuming, right?"

He smiled.

"Hey Lorelai, do you think you could help me out with something?"

"Sure.  As long as it's not illegal… oh what the heck! Even if it's illegal."

"Oh, don't worry about that.  Is the garden at the Inn booked for Saturday?"

"Nope."

"Would you book it for me?"

Lorelai smiled.  "You got it…"

~*~

Author's Note.  First of all, thank you so much for the reviews on the previous chapter, I was so happy getting all of them.  You guys are the best!  In addition, I hope you enjoyed this new chapter.  And don't miss the next one… -Mary