While Paris was telling Jennifer exactly what she thought about her, Rory, Tristan and Audrey talked for a while. And being the big sister, Audrey did the only thing she thought her baby brother needed.
"I will be right back."
Before a word could utter out of Rory or Tristan's mouth, she was gone. Tristan turned to smirk at Rory.
"It's just me and you."
Rory rolled her eyes and hid a smile.
"Oh how will I survive such an event? Stuck all alone in a conversation with you and your ego. This is such an exciting event, but there seems to be no room for me."
She started to walk away but he reached for her wrist. Sparks flew, and Rory's heart was screaming at her.
*You keep saying you are looking the one and yet you brush off all feelings for this guy.*
Tristan felt the spark and conflicted with himself.
*It doesn't matter how many years pass, you still feel the same about her and she's still the one that got away.*
Rory smiled and turned back to him.
"A little attached there aren't you Bible boy?"
"Bible boy?"
"Well, being my tormenter and using biblical insults on me all the time, what else kind of name do I owe you?"
"Oh yes, very original."
"For your sarcastic comment, you owe me coffee."
She was shocked. Did she just ask Tristan out? No, that wasn't possible, right? This was Tristan. It didn't matter how many years had passed and how much bolder she had become. She was the same around him, an innocent high school girl that was too afraid to admit that possibly, love could be presented right in front of her face.
The same went for him. It didn't matter how much he had changed over the years, he always fell back into the lovesick tormentor role he made for himself in high school. But this was a change. Her asking him out. Well, maybe it wasn't a date, but it was close enough for him. Before he could come back with some high school comment, he forced out something civil, containing whatever lewd remark he would have made.
"Sure. When?"
"Whenever you can."
Tristan pulled out a card out of his hand.
"My office number is in here. Call me ok?"
Rory smiled.
"Yeah, sure. Hey, Audrey is coming back. You should go."
"Alright, then I'll see you later. Bye…. Mary."
He left a smiling Rory behind and joined Audrey.
*~*~*~*
"I can't believe you flirted back to her. You are one indecent man. I can't even trust you for a second!"
Paris was going off on Jess yet again. The fact that the both of them got together was a big surprise to everyone. It was an even bigger shock when the two discovered they had a lot in common. Crappy parents, love for books, love for music, fear of Barney, and a deep hatred for swans.
"I wasn't flirting back. You need your eyes checked Geller; she was throwing herself at me. All I did was smile and nod. I was trying to be civil you know."
"Civil? CIVIL?! You call that civil? That was beyond civil!"
"Why do I even deal with any of this?!"
"Because you love me you damn idiot!"
Then they both went in for the kiss. The problem was, they were in the car, Jess was driving, and the light turned green. Rory would have laughed if it weren't for the fact that there were cars behind them. Instead, she hit Jess on the head.
"Drive you imbecile!"
Jess grinned like a little kid in a candy shop and drove. Paris turned to look at Rory.
"Why'd you break that up?"
"I swear you guys are going to be impossible to separate as soon as you guys get married."
Paris looked at her engagement ring and smiled.
"Impossible to resist."
Rory sat in the back and smiled why Jess and Paris went at it like an old married couple. At least they had each other.
*~*~*~*
"So that was Rory? Hmmm, I see why you were so infatuated by her during your high school years. Some of your college too."
Tristan wanted to slam his head into the wall.
"Audi, must you pry through all my stuff?!"
"I am your older sister! Of course I'm going to pry into my baby brother's love life."
Tristan groaned.
"Why me?!"
"Why did you deserve to end up with such a perfect, beautiful and intelligent sister? I'm not sure either."
"There it is! Your ego!"
"Well, you weren't using it so I might as well put it to good use. A pretty good ego too. I'm hurt that you don't use it to its fullest power."
"Because if I did Audi, then I would turn out like you, and that would be a scary thing."
"Ok An."
Tristan groaned.
"Don't call me that!"
"But it matches that picture of you in that dress and make-up."
"I was 3! And you promised that you would never bring it up again!"
"Still have the pictures…"
"Audi…"
"I wonder what Rory would make of it."
"AUDREY!!!"
"Fine, geez, you don't have to blow a fuse. Now, tell you big sister all about this Rory. She seems like a pretty good girl, so much better than those other air-heads you insisted on dating a few years back."
"She's a Mary. She's perfect, innocent, and naïve. Everything in a girl you could never imagine me with."
"And yet, you are completely smitten with her."
"I can't explain it either."
"And you always hide behind those stupid kindergarten tactics. Why?"
"I told you, she brings that out of me. She just has this strange power over me. Every time I am around her, my high school tormentor role comes out. It's weird."
"Maybe it's because you're afraid."
"Me, afraid? Afraid of what?!"
"Your afraid that if Rory met the real Tristan DuGrey, she would no longer be interested."
"I am no afraid of that."
"Yes you are, stop denying it! If it weren't so true, you would have acted like the Tristan I know!"
In truth, that was the reason. The real Tristan was a really charming guy. It might have not seemed like it nine years ago, but after all that time, he changed into one of the sweetest men in the world. He would do anything for his friends and even became that 'idealistic' son his parent's wanted. Military school taught him discipline and manners. And after meeting Rory and more people like her, he started to know the genuine goodness of people. He learned that there are so many cruel people out there, why join that bunch?
Of course, he still teased and flirted, but that's what made him Tristan. When it came right down to it, he turned from a cocky ass into one of the kindest men ever. Too bad he could never show that to Rory. There was something about her that made him feel like a high school student all over again. A sigh rushed out of his throat.
"I just don't think I can keep her interested in me if I acted all nice. I mean, come on, she remembers me because I was a cocky jerk. And I know she will always remember me because you remember those that made your life difficult."
"An, you have one twisted little mind."
"Audi, think about it ok? I know from Hartford grapevine that she broke up with stock-boy, the nice guy for some badass her grandparents disapproved of. They called him a step down from stock-boy."
"I think you might analyze way too much into this stuff An."
"I do not and Audi, stop calling me An!"
"I like the name An."
"Why don't I call you An?"
"Because the name looks better on you than it does on me."
Tristan smirked.
"That's because everything looks good on me."
Audrey rolled her eyes and smacked him hard on his arm.
"Your cockiness never ceases to amaze me An."
"Shut up Audi."
"I just think something is really wrong with you. The fact that you refuse to act like yourself and revert back into that jackass of a guy you were in high school because you might, just might, really like this girl? Yeah, you need to get your head examined An. I'm tired and I want to see Tom so let's go An."
"Aw, Audi wants to go to Timmy."
"Stop calling him that!"
"Then stop calling me An!"
*~*~*~*
A/N: You must be thinking 'what the hell is up with Tristan?!' but truthfully, his character was never really finished in the show since he wasn't on it that much. So you can pretty much shape him any way you want since he is an undeveloped character. A LOOPHOLE! Thank you so much for the reviews, I really didn't think anyone would like this story. It was a random moment kind of thing really. And why the name An? It's funny; something an older sister would do to annoy the hell out of her younger sibling.